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AMAZONS 

OF 

SOUTH AMERICA 

T hr i 11 i n^ Adventures oP Reckless 
Buccaneers and Daring 
Freebooters 



CHICAGO. 

ALEXANDER BELPORD & CO. 



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THE AMAZONS 



OF 



SOUTH AMERICA 



THRILLING ADVENTURES OF RECKLESS 

BUCCANEERS AND DARING 

FREEBOOTERS 



C. M. STEVANS 

AUTHOR OF " THE BUCCANEERS AND THEIR REIGN OF TERROR, ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

LOUIS BRAUNHOLD 



^ 



CHICAGO 

ALEXANDER BELFORD & CO. 

1899 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

A Messenger Armed only with a Knife Con- 
cealed Under his Cloak - Frontispiece 

Six Months Later, the Interpreter Appeared 
AT THE Reduction with a Remarkable Story 
OF HIS Escape - - - - - 21 

She Beckoned Them to Follow Her - 31 

A Young Girl in Peasant Dress Fell on her 
Knees Before the Favorite Companion of 
Queen Isabella - - - "39 

The Admiral, Bending over the Unconscious 

Body of Juan Marido " - - 59 

Like an Arrow the Animal Sped Toward the 

Distant Tents - - - - 65 

An Indian Village Reminding Him of Venice, 

He Named Little Venice, or Venezuela 77 

It was Ojeda, with his Buckler over his Shoul- 
der AND HIS Sword in his Hand - 85 

Behold my Daughter, Take Her for thy Wife 95 

The Chief Lay Prostrate on the Ground, a 

Terrified Prisoner - - . . joi 

The Sublime Prospect of the Great Sea In- 
spired Him with the Most Exalted Emotions 107 

He Stood on the Beach and Boldly Awaited 

THE Spaniards - - - - - n? 

Montezuma Fell into the Arms of his Attend- 
ants, Mortally Wounded - - 131 

He Drew his Sword and Struck a Line in the 

Sanp ^ - - » , » j4l 

9 



She Blindfolded Him and Led Him a Long Dis- 
tance - - - - - 153 
"What Ho! You Traitors! Have you Come to 

Kill Me in my Own House?" - - 159 

A Troop of Horsemen Came Racing Down to 

the Shore ----- 165 

They Came upon an Indian Hiding in a Clump of 

Bushes - - - - - - i77 

One by One the Slaves Sank Beneath their 

Burdens of Gold - - - - 189 

Maldonado Saved Himself by Hiding in a 

Hollow Log ----- 197 
They Found the Lawyer, Face Downward upon 

the Floor, Grasping a Broken Sword - 209 

Llamaso and Carrion Killed Her in the Most 

Revolting Manner - - - - 217 

In the Morning They Went into the Town but 

Found it Deserted - - - 225 

At Parting He Placed a Ring upon her Finger 235 
The Unsuccessful Assassin in Chains on the 

Floor of the Castle Dungeon - - 247 



zo 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 

Women have borne such heroic parts in the battles 
of tribes and nations that no surprise or sentiment 
was felt when reports came from Manila that many, 
clothed as men, were found among the insur- 
gent dead. History, both fabulous and authentic, 
abounds in martial deeds of the so-called non-com- 
batants. But from no source has there come such 
wild stories as from the early explorers of South 
America. 

In the sixteenth century the belief was universal 
that there were tribes in America domineered wholly 
by women. Columbus, in one of his reports, wrote a 
full account of an island inhabited entirely by women, 
and Cortes, in a letter to the Emperor Charles V, 
gives a description of a province peopled only by 
amazons. De Soto and Sir Walter Raleigh left testi- 
mony of their existence, and almost every explorer, 
missionary, conqueror and historian fro^m Columbus 
to Condamine and Humboldt, believed in the stories 
of women warriors. Like all such accounts, error 
was mixed with truth, and the error so predominated 
that the stories of the amazons have been by general 
consent relegated to the shades of myth and fic- 
tion. However, there were tribes of South American 
amazons, not from choice, but by accident and neces- 
sity. The adventures of the early sea rovers and ex- 



12 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

plorers amply attest this fact. One of the most curi- 
ous incidents is related of a crew from the French 
buccaneering fleet of Le Sieur Maubenon. Off the 
coast of Venezuela in 1674, one of the vessels was 
separated from the others in a storm and driven 
among- the dangerous reefs of Los Roques. Desperate 
efforts wer made to save the ship, but it struck on a 
rock, and the crew had barely time to get into the 
long boat, without an ounce of water or food, before 
the ship went down. They were driven helplessly 
until nearly midnight, when they were cast 
upon a low, marshy shore. Making the best of their 
situation, they waited until morning, hoping they 
were upon the mainland, where they might have rea- 
sonable expectation of escape. At the first appear- 
ance of daylight they ascended a neighboring hill, 
and discovered they were on a small island, in the 
center of which was an Indian village of unusual size. 
As but one gun and half a dozen swords had been 
saved, it was necessary to be very cautious; but their 
hunger was so pressing that little delay was made 
in making their presence known. Fortifying them- 
selves as securely as possible on the side of the hill 
nearest their boat, they sent a messenger, armed only 
with a knife concealed under his cloak, to test the 
friendliness of the natives. So far they had seen only 
women and .children about the huts, but a huge cir- 
cular house, surrounded by a rude palisade, obstructed 
part of the view. 

An unusual commotion was visible in the village 
as the peace messenger approached, and the inhabi- 
tants disappeared. This puzzled the courier as much 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 13 

as it did his comrades, for he spent an interminable 
time in reconnoitering. As he approached nearer, 
half a dozen- well-aimed arrows admonished him not 
to approach within range of the palisades around the 
big circular house. The Frenchmen knew that their 
comrade, Pierre Lescat, was brave enough for any 
adventure, but it was very disquieting to see him 
disappear among the huts. The buccaneers waited 
until they became convinced that something ill had 
befallen him, when they set out to accomplish his 
rescue. Half way to the village they saw a column 
of smoke rising from, the center of the circular house, 
as if for a signal, and soon after Lescat appeared, 
carrying enough cassava cakes, and nuts to make them 
a welcome breakfast. The information he brought, 
was most astonishing. The island was inhabited only 
by women, and was the famous home of the amazons. 
Their reputation for implacable fierceness was also 
well sustained, for no one dared within arrow-shot 
of the palisade. Efforts were continued throughout 
the day to open friendly communication with them, 
since no' more food was to be found, with the result 
that twoi of the more venturesome were severely 
wounded. That night, in place of the column of 
smoke, a bonfire was kept burning, and sentinels 
armed with bows and spears could be seen guarding 
every part of the palisades. When morning came 
the buccaneers made a thorough search for food, but 
could find none. After another effort to open nego- 
tiations, the pangs of hunger made them determine 
to capture the storehouse and stronghold by assault. 
A number of long^ poles were procured, and a rush 



14 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

was made from behind the nearest cabin against the 
palisades. A wide strip of the defenses was torn 
down, but the assailants were obliged to drop their 
poles and run, with numerous severe wounds from 
the well-directed shafts of the defenders. 

Pierre Lescat then conceived a brilliant plan for 
destroying the defenses. Three or four movable 
blockhouses were made of the thatched roofs from 
the huts, and inclosed in these the men, with their 
swords tied on the ends of long cane stalks, pushed 
their way into the enclosure, tore a wide opening 
through the side of the circular building, and spread 
their protecting screens around a huge pile of cassava 
bread, nuts, and bucanned meat. The feasting that 
followed was not altogether pleasant, since the women 
were ranged around the wall and were able to send 
several arrows through openings in the screen. 
Another attempt tO' parley with the implacable females 
ended disastrously, since the moment the venture- 
some spokesman showed himself, an arrow tore a 
vicious wound in his pacifically raised arm. 

The portable fortification was then moved forward 
and the amazons, unable to defend themselves against 
it, rushed outside, abandoning the storehouse to the 
victors. The generous instincts of the Frenchmen 
toward feminine distress suggested a scheme for 
friendly parley. Each man took an armful from the 
pile of provisions and followed the women, who, to 
the number of about a hundred, were guarding the 
flight of an equal number that had gone ahead with 
the children. In vain, with all the conciliating ges- 
tures at their command, they ofifered to share their 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 15 

captured provisions with the vanquished, but were 
compelled to keep out of range from the threatening 
arrows. An hour or more passed in these futile efiforts, 
and the far end of the island was nearly reached, when 
the buccaneers, looking back from the top of a hill, 
saw the whole village in a mass of flames. In great 
alarm they ceased their blandishments to the unappre- 
ciative females and ran breathlessly back to the burn- 
ing huts. When they arrived there, nothing remained 
but heaps of ashes and embers. As the provisions 
were of the most importance, immediate search was 
made among the ruins of the circular house, but noth- 
ing could be found except a few baked nuts. The 
mystery was solved soon after, when they decided to 
go to the mainland, which could be seen about a 
league distant. To their consternation, they discov- 
ered their boat was gone. The tracks of twenty or 
thirty amazons and several bits of provisions found 
in the sand, disclosed what had occurred. A hasty 
consultation decided the angry Frenchmen they were 
no longer bound to respect the sex of these cannibal 
Caribs. 

Depositing in a place of safety the precious provi- 
sions which they had offered to the ungrateful females 
as an earnest of pacific intentions, the buccaneers 
marched back to the far end of the island with the 
stern determination to recapture their boat at any 
cost, but when they arrived there nothing was to be 
seen but a score of canoes about a mile from' land, 
heading for an adjacent island. Curses availed noth- 
ing, and they returned to spend the night at the place 
where they had left their scanty provisions. 



i6 THRILLING ADVENTllRES 

When morning came a new danger menaced them, 
for, during the night, two or three hundred warriors 
had landed near them. Doubtless these were the men 
of the village, who had returned from hunting or 
fighting. The buccaneers fortified themselves and 
prepared to withstand the attack, which soon ca,me. 
Their chief hope lay with Pierre Lescat and his mus- 
ket. With this he was able to keep the Indians away 
during the day, but by nightfall he had fired his last 
charge and the next day they expected to fall before 
the overwhelming numbers of the savages. Just 
before daybreak they were beside themselves with joy 
at hearing the boom of a cannon. A ship from Le 
Sieur Maubenon's fleet had been sent out to search 
for them, and it had arrived in the niche of time. The 
savages fled and the Frenchmen spread their story 
among the buccaneers. Many a wild yarn of the sea- 
rovers is directly traceable to the amazons of Los 
Roques. 

The Spanish annals are especially full of romantic 
encounters with amazons. Condamine in 1743 found 
a chief who claimed to have been born of an amazon 
mother, and this chief's son said that he had often 
visited the female fighters with his father, at their 
fortified town on an island in the Rio Negro. Orel- 
lana and his Dominican followers in Brazil made 
many attempts to carry the gospel to these benighted 
women, but were never permitted toi enter their ter- 
ritory. In descending the Amazon river, then known 
as the Maranon, he was warned by many Caciques not 
to attempt to pass a certain settlement, as it was pos- 
sessed by a tribe of women so fierce that none ever 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 17 

survived who entered their territory unbidden. Even 
the phenomenally savage band of Lope de Aguirre 
turned aside from their course in 1560, fearing to pass 
through the lands of these fierce warrior women. 
Early in 1541, Orellana had a battle with a savage 
tribe at the mouth of the Frombretas river. He says 
that with them was a band of amazons who fought 
with greater fierceness than he had ever seen. They 
used bows and stone hatchets, while some bore shields 
and spears. They were unconquerable and did not 
desist from, killing as long as they could draw breath. 
He described them as "tall, robust and fair, with long 
hair twisted over their heads, and with undressed 
skins around their loins." So great was their fame 
that the Spanish Government sent out several expe- 
ditions to conquer them and every explorer was 
charged with the duty to take special note of any 
information concerning them, so that they might be 
brought to a knowledge of the Cross. But the strange 
tribe of savage females were always just beyond the 
farthest point M^hich the explorer had been able to 
reach. D'Acuna made a systematic investigation 
through Brazil in 1639, ^^^ from a skeptic became a 
firm believer in the existence of these untamable crea- 
tures. He claimed to have found irrefutable proof 
that they were located at that time on the river Cun- 
uriz. In consequence, Count Pagan, through the 
friendly offices of a neighboring chief, was allowed to 
have a conference with a deputation of amazons. 
Great interest and sympathy was aroused for them 
in Christendom, and they became the objects of un- 
bounded solicitude among the Ecclesiastics. Several 



iS THRILLING ADVENTURES 

histories were written of them, and one by L'Abbe 
Gujon claimed that the most sacred and glorious task 
ever appearing before the Church was the conversion 
of these deluded women. Father Cyprian Baraza, a 
Jesuit missionary, wrote a sensational letter to his 
superiors in Spain, giving a remarkable story of a 
visit to them in 1690.^ They allowed him to preach 
to them through his interpreters for three successive 
days and then ordered him to leave the country, say- 
ing that they once had a god, but he had abandoned 
them, and they would have no other. They were then 
just west of the Paraguay, at the twelfth degree south 
latitude. Several years later, another Jesuit mission- 
ary. Father Gili, wrote that he had visited a tribe of 
amazons on the Chuchivera river near where it emp- 
ties intO' the Orinoco, and met with a similar experi- 
ence from the unteachable barbarians. Even as late 
as 1848, the natives unanimously declared that hordes 
of female warriors ruled with dreadful barbarity the 
whole territory of the upper Corentyn in the Mara- 
wonne country, and the Macusi Indians showed 
immense heaps of broken pottery at numerous places 
in the forests as proofs of former dwelling places of 
the amazons, they being the only persons ever in that 
region who had a taste for such ornaments. 

One of the best authenticated stories of the ama- 
zons is recorded by Hernando de Ribeira, a follower 
of Cabeza de Vega. In 1543 he went on an expedi- 
tion far up a branch of the Paraguay river into the 
lands of the Urtuezez Indians. The caciques every- 
where told him that about ten days' journey to the 
northwest would bring him into a territory whose 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 19 

inhabitants were composed wholly of women. They 
were said to be in no way offensive or aggressive, but 
no man had been known to enter their domains unin- 
vited and come out alive. For the first time, a natural 
origin was ascribed to their anomalous government. 
It was said that they had been a powerful tribe, living 
as other tribes, but at war with all their neighbors. 
One of their most aggressive enemies, in a sudden 
raid, burnt the principal village and slew the chief 
with his entire family. His warriors swore that they 
would destroy the offending tribe or be destroyed 
themselves. The women and children were all placed 
in the chief remaining village, and it chanced to be 
that every male was capable of accompanying the 
expedition, and all were pressed into service. The 
enemy, hearing of the approaching warriors, formed 
a coalition of tribes, set a powerful ambush, and, sur- 
rounding the coming enemy, succeeded in killing 
them all. The victors determined to extirpate the 
tribe, but the women built palisades, barricaded their 
houses, and fought so desperately that the enemy was 
obliged to retire without having accomplished their 
object. From that time on the women had success- 
fully defended their homes from all encroachments, 
had slain all their male offspring as useless appen- 
dages, and had allowed no man to enter their territory 
except upon invitation. The seat of their government 
was on an island in a lake known as the Mansion of 
the Sun, because of the golden ornaments that cov- 
ered the houses of the amazon rulers, and which were 
reflected so brilliantly in the still water. 
The caciques of the Urtuezez nation were unanimous 



20 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

in their testimony that the amazons had such an 
abundance of white and yellow metal taken from their 
own mines that all their utensils and weapons were 
made therefrom. No greater lure could come in the 
way of the Spaniards, and a messenger was sent at 
once to entreat permission for the white strangers to 
come and teach them the true religion of the Cross. 
To the sorrow of Ribeira, the answer was returned 
that only three of the Christian priests with their inter- 
preter, would be allowed to come, and that under the 
penalty of death they must come unarmed, obey the 
laws, and remain no^ longer than three days. As it 
happened, Father Aldeno was the only priest with the 
expedition, but two others readily volunteered to 
assume the office and face the danger. A month after 
the three men set out on their strange mission, Rib- 
eira was compelled to return to the nearest reduction 
or missionary post on the Paraguay, without any tid- 
ings of the absent men. The Urtuezez chiefs gravely 
advanced the opinion that the Spaniards had in some 
way violated the laws of the country and had suf- 
fered the penalty. They offered to find out what had 
happened, rescue the men if possible, and, in any 
event, to report the matter to Ribeira at an early date. 
It was several hundred miles to the Spanish reduction, 
and several weeks must elapse before the fate of the 
visitors to the amazons could be known, but the Indi- 
ans promised all possible haste. 

Six months later, the interpreter, who had gone 
with the three Spaniards, appeared at the reduction 
with a remarkable story of his escape. He brought 
the first information that the Urtuezez chiefs could 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 23 

obtain of the fate of the Spaniards. He said that 
Father Aldeno had performed his duties faithfully and 
won the respect of the women chiefs, but that the two 
bogus priests had from the first neglected their duties 
and had busied themselves offensively with the golden 
ornaments and in flattering the vanity of the younger 
women. Father Aldeno and the interpreter had 
warned them in vain. Suitable presents were 
exchanged, and they set out on their return. The 
third night after their departure, the priest and the 
interpreter were struck with consternation to find that 
the two Spaniards had succeeded in enticing two of 
the younger amazons to follow themu They had evi- 
dently stolen away, vvith all the gold they could carry, 
on the night following the departure of the visitors, 
and succeeded in overtaking their lovers on the third 
night. Nothing remained but to get as far from pur- 
suit as possible. As the Spaniards refused to part 
with their prizes, they broke camp at once and the 
homeward journey became a flight. The interpreter 
had warned them that the neighboring tribes were 
friendly to the amazons, and that all villages must be 
avoided. However, the next day they suddenly came 
upon a camp of Indian hunters, who at once sur- 
rounded them and inquired how the two amazon girls 
came to be with them. Excuses were of no avail. 
Bribes and threats likewise effected nothing. Accord- 
ing to their treaty with the amazons, they were 
obliged to return all runaways and their seducers. 
This could be no exception. Their hands were bound 
and a dozen warriors were deputed to take the prison- 
ers back to the Mansion of the Sun. Hardly had they 



24 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

begun the return march, when they were met by a 
score of amazons in hot pursuit. The fugitives were 
turned over to the warrior women, who took them 
back to the outraged community for trial and punish- 
ment. As a result the interpreter and the priest were 
sold as slaves to a fierce tribe half a month's journey 
to the north, while the two Spaniards and their 
inamoratas were placed together in a singular prison 
which the amazons had constructed for such male- 
factors. The Indian interpreter, after a time, suc- 
ceeded in making his escape, but the priest bowed to 
his hard servitude as being the will of God. Accord- 
ing to the best that the interpreter could learn, the 
prison made for the malefactors of the amazons, con- 
sisted of a high circular wall around a small island in 
the lake. In this place were thrown all who disobeyed 
the laws, where they were kept without clothing or 
shelter during the remainder of their miserable exist- 
ence. Their sole subsistence was derived from what- 
ever they could grow in the soil, and from the food 
to be procured in exchange for the ornaments they 
could make from the clay and stone found in the earth 
of the enclosure. Such was the horror inspired by 
this place, that the laws were implicitly obeyed, and 
there had never been more than a dozen persons at 
one time thus imprisoned. The Spaniards at the' 
Jesuit reductions were eager to conquer the amazons 
and release their comrades, but they were too few in 
number for such an enterprise and the project was 
abandoned. It was fifty years before white men again 
penetrated the region. This was done by the Portu- 
guese from Brazil. They found the territory about 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 25 

the Mansion of the Sun occupied by a flourishing 
tribe, who had many stories and traditions concerning 
the subjugation of the amazons by a neighboring 
tribe, but there was nothing to establish the unques- 
tionable identity of the race of women warriors. 

Some historians suppose that the habit of the Guar- 
ani-Brazilian race of Indians of wearing combs in their 
long hair, which was usually knotted upon their heads 
feminine fashion, gave rise to the many extraordinary 
stories about the amazons. It is certain that in the 
territory of these Indians, the most persistent reports 
of female tribes were met with. 

For two hundred years there was a universal belief 
that a nation of women ruled over a vast area of South 
America. The Portuguese and Spaniards were con- 
tinually producing individuals who had escaped from 
these strange women after experiencing adventures 
which would be incredible to any but such mystery- 
loving people. The Dutch and French were but little 
behind their neighbors in wonderful stories of these 
remarkable women. The English alone, however 
credulous, seem never toi have found any evidence 
worthy of record. Southey, the painstaking English 
historian of Brazil, summed up all the evidence very 
carefully and came to the conclusion that there were 
no' tribes of amazons. 

In the stories recorded by the French explorers, 
that of Jean Villiers awakened the greatest interest. 
He had been lost on one of their expeditions on the 
Orinoco, and after three or four years appeared at 
the settlements in Guiana, claiming that he had been 
captured by a tribe of amazons. According to his 



26 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

story, they had cultivated and refined their minds, 
while the men were degraded and brutalized by con- 
tinual war, till they became greatly superior, and, for 
that reason, refused to live subject to the inferior 
habits of the men. The female children they bore 
were of their own exalted instincts and tastes, but 
their male offspring were invariably of the brutish and 
inferior type of their fathers. Therefore the women 
had gone into a community by themselves, refusing 
to associate with their husbands except as the fancy 
pleased them. He said that they were so fond of gold 
and silver ornaments, and those metals were so little 
esteemed among the other Indian tribes, that they 
had succeeded in collecting nearly all the gold and 
silver in the country, with which they adorned their 
persons and houses. To this cause he attributed the 
dearth of precious metals in the French territories. 
In support of the truth of his story, he loaded two 
pack mules with trinkets dear to feminine eyes, and 
disappeared in the forests for three months or more. 
On his return he showed a rich exchange of curiously 
wrought gold and silver ornaments. In subsequent 
visits to the amazons, he refused all partnerships in 
his enterprise, and nothing could induce him to reveal 
the source of his rapidly growing wealth. The roman- 
tic stories he told concerning his experience among 
the wonderful tribe of females were the sensation of 
his time, but he successfully defeated all efforts made 
to ferret out his peculiar patronesses, and returned to 
France with his secret and his wealth. 

Portales, the Spanish governor of Venezuela, was 
so aroused by the stories of Villiers, that he sent out 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 27 

a searching party, which was gone nearly a year. 
They reported that the so-called amazons of Villiers 
were a kind of religious order of women, who lived 
on an island in the Rio Negro, after the manner of 
the virgins of the sun. There were less than a hun- 
dred of them, and their gold came from the surround- 
ing tribes as a religious offering or tribute. As the 
Spaniards came back empty-handed, with the loss of 
three-fourths of their number through the hardships 
they had undergone, it was strongly suspected that 
their story was made as an excuse for the failure of 
their expedition. 

Francisco Torralva, in behalf of the Spanish Gov- 
ernment, made a very extended search and his report 
located an extensive tribe of amazons in western Gui- 
ana, whom he invested with all the romance of the 
day. But, regardless of the overwhelming testimony 
of both priests and adventurers, their identity was 
never sufficiently established to satisfy modem belief. 

Many ingenious theories have been advanced to 
explain the incredible stories that were so implicitly 
believed for more than two centuries, as well as to 
account for the actual existence of the amazons, but 
the true origin of the persistent and prevailing testi- 
mony will doubtless remain a mystery. 

The Peruvian accounts ol the amazons are all inci- 
dental to the search for the golden riches of El Do- 
rado. Perhaps none are so well attested as those 
recorded among the adventures of the followers of 
the younger Almagro. After the decisive battle 
of Chupas, a considerable band of the defeated "men 
of Chili" escaped across the Andes to the unknown 



28 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

regions east of Cuzco. They descended into the trop- 
ical forests of Caravaya, and there broke up into small 
parties, some of which took Indian wives and founded 
towns. Among these were Sandia, San Gobin, and 
San Juan del Oro. So much gold was sent to Spain 
from Del Oro, that Charles V gave it the title of 
Royal City. Eventually the Chunche Indians of the 
Sirineyri tribe massacred all the Spaniards east of the 
Andes and burnt their towns. Until as late as 1852, 
no attempt was made to penetrate these regions, 
except by the Peruvian bark-hunters. Curious evi- 
dences of Spanish civilization are still to be found 
in the overgrown ruins of these forest cities. 

The Cascarilleros, as the bark-hunters were called, 
often brought the most roimantic stories of Spanish- 
Indian tribes, living aloof from the natives, with 
strange barbaric splendor in the midst of the almost 
impenetrable forests. These stories were readily 
believed, since about this time, an extensive tribe, 
known as the Jeberos, was found on the Amazon by 
the Dominican missionaries, every member of which 
received the homage of the surrounding tribes from 
being the offspring of Spanish women captured in 
,, - the insurrections of 1599. One of these tribes of the 
I Caravaya forests, living in almost religious seclusion, 
claimed to be descendants of the "children of the sun" 
and an exalted band of noble amazons. Some repre- 
sentatives of the tribe crossed the Andes with the Cas- 
carilleros and visited the Spanish settlements. There 
could be no question of their Spanish descent, but 
they refused to allow a priest to return with them and 
warned the Spaniards not to visit them. 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 29 

The discovery of this tribe gave color to one of the 
marvelous stories that had long been related among 
the adventures of the "men of Chili" who had escaped 
across the Andes from the rage of Vaca de Castro. 

This remnant of the veteran soldiery of Almagro 
found so little opposition in the great tropical forests 
beyond the mountains that they divided into con- 
genial bands and sought their fortunes separately. 
One of these, consisting of Spanish knights, became 
lost and wandered for an unknown time through the 
flowery jungles. At last they came to a most singu- 
lar obstruction. It consisted of a row of cedar trees 
with thickly growing shrubs so intertwined with vines 
as to be impenetrable. At one place they hewed an 
opening with their swords to the distance of ten feet 
without relief. Then they followed the green wall 
until it came to an abrupt turn, as if the strange forest 
were of rectangualr form. Following on to the dis- 
tance of nearly a league, they came to a clear, cold 
stream flowing through the wall; and, as it was grow- 
ing dark, they decided to camp there for the night. 

As darkness came on they were amazed to hear the 
melancholy chant of many feminine voices accom- 
panied by the tinkle of castanets and the soft tones of 
some reed instrument like a flute. Nothing could 
exceed the interest with which they waited the com- 
ing day. With the first break of dawn, the score of 
adventurers, who were veterans in wonders as well 
as in war, refreshed themselves with their scanty food 
and set forth to penetrate the mystery before them. 

Just beyond the stream, the extraordinary wall 
crossed a small hill, on the top of which it turned 



30 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

again at right angles. Here, hidden under a mass 
of flowering vines, they found a narrow entrance, 
through which they eagerly passed, but, to their 
amazement, after moving through the close leafy 
aisles for half an hour, they found themselves emerg- 
ing one by one, on the outside a few steps beyond the 
corner where they had entered. However, in look- 
ing over their numbers, it was found that their leader, 
Diego de Bonilla, was missing. They waited some 
time, but as he did not appear, they decided to trav- 
erse the labyrinth again. To their chagrin they once 
more found themselves outside the wall. Nothing had 
been seen of the knightly cavalier under whom most 
of them had served since the days when they had 
shared in the spoils of the Inca. 

While they were considering what to do, they were 
electrified by the appearance at the entrance of a 
comely Indian girl, daintily enrobed in a scarlet fabric 
of llama's wool. She beckoned them tO' follow her, 
and after a few steps they found themselves in a great 
orchard of native fruits, extending each way around 
the walls. A few hundred paces more brought them 
to a little village consisting of a score of huts, in the 
center of which there was an immense arbor or bower. 
In this they found their leader seated on the floor, 
in the midst of a hundred Indian women. Diego de 
Bonilla knew the language of the Incas, and one of 
the girls was able to talk with him. During the con- 
ference, three old women, the only ones to.be seen, 
were performing some kind of a religious ceremony. 

It was soon learned that these women were the 
daughters of the chief men of the surrounding tribes, 



SOUTH AMERICAN AMAZONS 33 

brought here as a sacred place of safety to escape the 
capture and massacre incident to their constant wars. 
In the season, which was just past, their fathers came 
with such husbands as had been selected for them, 
and the ones thus given in marriage were taken away, 
while others who had arrived within three seasons of 
a marriageable age, were brought there tO' remain 
until their fathers had found suitable husbands. For 
a month after the departure of the lucky ones with 
their husbands, the evenings were spent in lamenta- 
tions and melancholy religious exercises. Only a few 
days before, in the midst of the chant bewailing their 
disappointment, the three old women burst in upon 
them with the prophecy that the gods were sending 
them husbands of the noblest race in the world. The 
prophecies of the old women were not in good repute 
and they were not believed, but now it was seen that 
they had indeed been spoken to by the gods. 

The lost and wretched Spaniards were not loth to 
accept the gracious invitation, especially since their 
eager eyes had not only devoured the beauty of the 
prospective wives, but had observed that there were 
golden ornaments in such abundance as had been seen 
nowhere by them since the day of spoils at Caxamalca 
and Cuzco. 

What afterward befell this paradise is not known, 
since Diego de Bonilla, when he deserted the colony 
and went back to Spain with seven llama loads of 
gold, discreetly remained silent on the subsequent his- 
tory. He boasted a great deal of how he had drilled 
the women to throw the lance and help the new hus- 
bands to beat off the angry fathers of the adjoining 



U THRILLING ADVENTURES 

tribes. It became the belief in Spain that this capture 
of the paradise was the cause of the confederation of 
natives which succeeded in the final destruction of all 
the Spaniards east of the Andes. It was also believed 
that Diego de Bonilla came to Spain on a special mis- 
sion from his comrades, but basely deserted them with 
all the gold. 

The Cascarilleros, or Peruvian bark-hunters, con- 
tinued through several years to describe, in glowing 
terms their contact with this strange Spanish-Indian 
tribe, and it is said that a great heap of ruins is still 
pointed out as the paradise of the amazons. 



MERIDA 

RESURRECTION OF A SENSATION IN HISTORY 

Americans, having invested extensively in Spanish 
territory, are becoming more and more interested in 
the resources of the vast lands to the south. Com- 
merce may find there an inviting field, but to^ none 
can it be more captivating than to the lover of 
romance. If there is anything in which the Spaniard 
has always excelled, it is in finding material for the 
most romantic fiction and then living it out in his 
career. If a number of men were shipwrecked on a 
desert island, they would proceed at once to divide 
into factions and then to conduct themselves, as long 
as they lived, in a manner that would make a popular 
melodrama for the American stage. But the common 
adventurers were not alone the romance-makers of 
the New World. Every great discoverer, explorer 
and conqueror, was involved in some way with dra- 
matic incidents and episodes more worthy of the nov- 
elist than the historian. 

Even the first great navigator was not exempt. In 
the voluminous records concerning him, many of 
which have never been published, there are vague ref- 
erences to stories that would make highly interesting 
reading. One of the best of these has, for many gen- 
erations, been a household legend among the peasants 
of Moorish Spain, but it is now fast being lost under 

35 



36 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

the flow of modern interests. A stranger would 
doubtless be unable to glean enough of the details to 
get a clear understanding of the marvelous devotion 
that led to such a tragic career and fate as that of 
Merida. Her story, as gathered from scattered and 
indefinite sources, is without a parallel in history. We 
are assured that it would have made one of the most 
remarkable pages in the history of Columbus, if it 
had not been suppressed by the order of Father Perez 
of La Rabida and the reverend Bishop Bobadilla of 
the cathedral of Seville, in the fear that a scandal might 
arise which would cast reflections upon the Church. 
Such were the extraordinary means used to promote 
the discovery of the New World and such was the 
remarkable origin of one of the world's unknown 
heroines. If the story is true, we are led to ask, was 
the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492 due 
to an ecclesiastical trick, or were the sovereigns of 
Spain influenced by divine inspiration through the 
strange medium of a Moorish Christian girl? 

Late in the autumn of 1491, a princely retinue filed 
out of the little seaport of Palos de Moguer in Anda- 
lusia, on the way to take part in the glorious cere- 
monies in preparation for the impending fall of Gra- 
nada. At the convent of Franciscan friars, dedicated 
to Santa Maria de Rabida, the riders stopped and 
asked for a drink of water from the clear, cold well 
of the convent. Soon after their arrival, the prior, 
Juan Perez, came out with a distinguished looking 
stranger not habited as the friars. One of the horse- 
men, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, sprang to the ground, 
and advanced to greet them with cordial deference. 



MERIDA 37 

After a few words, the three men went to the shade of 
a tree near by, where Doiia Beatriz de Bobadilla, 
Marchioness of Moya, sat on a rude bench awaiting 
them. A short but earnest conference ensued, after 
which the three men moved away. Dona Beatriz was 
thus left alone for a moment, when a young girl in 
peasant dress, taking advantage of the opportunity, 
stepped from behind the great pine tree and fell on 
her knees before the favorite companion of Queen 
Isabella. 

"Noble lady, do not be frightened at my strange 
conduct," she whispered, in great agitation. "I have 
visions, visions of a mission I must perform for the 
glory of God and the Holy Church. Take me with 
you to the Queen and let me tell her that if she will 
obey the holy voice that speaks to me, her name will 
be imperishable in honor, countless times more glori- 
ous than for her great victory over the Moors." 

At this moment Friar Perez approached, and, lay- 
ing his hand upon her head, said : "Merida, my child, 
you here with your visions again?" 

She arose with the conscious dignity of one with 
a divine mission and replied fervently, "Father, my 
voice has brought me here and I cannot leave until 
a way is made for me to tell my story to the Queen !" 

Meanwhile, the Marchioness surveyed her singular 
supplicant with searching interest. The physical per- 
fection of the Moorish Andalusian pleased her, and 
the simple garb of the peasant rather enhanced the 
religious fervor that glowed in the young messenger's 
earnest face. Most of the cavalcade were remounting 
their horses, when the learned physician, Garcia Fer- 



38 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

nandez, approached arm in arm with the great 
stranger, whose eyes were downcast and despondent. 
The peasant girl was standing with her back tO' the 
men, but she turned at the sound of their steps and 
looked with glowing admiration into the inspiring 
countenance of the one to whom the others were giv- 
ing such marked attention. 

With a courtesy she took a step toward him and 
spoke in a tone so resonant with reverent feeling that 
with her first words the entire company and a score 
or more of the Franciscan friars gathered around as 
curious listeners. 

"Christoval Colon, as an humble medium of heaven 
I am inspired to tell you not tO' despair before the 
dawn of the glorious achievements just before you. 
I see you traversing an ocean wide and long as a 
thousand years, toward the broken cross of a mighty 
continent, on which there are countless millions living 
in universal darkness. A new Canaan, wide and long 
as the ocean, you will give to the conquering sons of 
Spain, and the holy men of this and other Christian 
lands, will add another world to the glory of God. 
In a few weeks the fate of the Moors will be sealed 
and the victors will be more easily turned from the 
glories of war to the greater glories of the heavenly 
kingdom. But first another royal hearing must be 
secured, and I can carry such conviction to our gra- 
cious Queen that she will make sure our glorious 
cause." 

An impatient signal from the leader of the gayly 
caparisoned train was sounded, a hurried conference 
took place, and it was then decided to send Sebastian 



MERIDA 41 

Rodriguez, the shrewd pilot of Lepe, to Santa Fe with 
a letter from the learned prior addressed tO' the spir- 
itual emotions of the devoted Queen, strongly urging 
another interview for a more comprehensive consid- 
eration of the great evangelical crusade proposed by 
Christoval Colon. 

Meantime, the Marchioness spoke a few words to 
Merida, and kindly dismissed her, when the great dis- 
coverer took the peasant girl's hands in his and kissed 
them. In a few minutes the cavalcade swept away, 
and Merida, with bowed head, walked down the hill 
and across the fields toward her cottage home. 

Within the week Sebastian Rodriguez started on 
his mission and fourteen days later returned with a 
letter from Queen Isabella requesting Prior Perez to 
come at once to the court. The enthusiastic friar did 
not wait for the coming day, but saddled his mule and 
set out for Santa Fe at midnight. He rode on through 
the newly conquered territory of the Moors, and, 
arriving at Santa Fe, soon gained an opportunity to 
plead the cause of Columbus. As a result it was but 
a few days until a sum equivalent to two hundred and 
sixteen dollars was in the hands of the physician, Gar- 
cia Fernandez, to be expended in procuring for the 
prescient navigator suitable clothing in which to 
appear respectfully at court and pay his expenses on 
the way. 

It was in January of 1492 when Columbus reached 
Santa Fe. Granada had fallen, and an eight hundred 
years' struggle between the Cross and the Crescent 
was ended with the triumph of the Cross. Vast crowds 
of people, wild with religious and patriotic emotion, 



42 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

thronged the streets and public places at all times of 
the day and night. Fawning courtiers and importun- 
ing applicants occupied the time of the sovereigns, 
and the sublime dreams of Columbus were compelled 
to wait for the petty ambitions of court favorites. In 
the midst of this magnificent vanity and po^mp, he 
had the friendly encouragement of Father Perez and 
Dona Beatriz of Moya, but his spirits sank with the 
seemingly interminable delay. Several times he had 
withdrawn from the boisterous crowds and sat down 
in obscure places to ponder undisturbed over his for- 
tunes and his plans. In nearly every instance, in the 
midst of his reveries, he had heard a voice clear and 
pure, like none he had ever heard except that of the 
peasant girl at La Rabida, saying always the same 
words, "Fear not, fail not. Your monitor abides." 

That some encouraging friend was following him 
in accordance with the peculiar superstition and 
religious spirit of the age, did not disturb him or 
awaken his curiosity. However, he heeded certain 
warnings and recognized timely advice from the mys-- 
terious voice. 

When Fernando de Talavera was made archbishop 
of Granada, a note was slipped into the hands of 
Columbus, advising him that the learned prelate 
would soon open negotiations for Columbus to lead 
the proposed expedition, but would attempt to have 
him be a mere subordinate with but little share in any 
booty or glory. 

"Know this and yield not," the warning read, "that 
the grandeur and glory of your coming gift to the 
Church and the world must not be dimmed by the 



MERIDA 43 

leader being less than high admiral and viceroy over 
all lands and people within the sphere of discovery." 

The princely courtiers and proud church dignitaries 
were shocked and indignant that a penniless suppli- 
cant should ask for such a position of distinction and 
dignity, much less to remain immovable in the 
demand. After exhausting all their resources of per- 
suasion and indignation, a final meeting was arranged 
for between Columbus and the royal councilors. 
Dona Beatriz, Marchioness of Moya, brought her 
strongest influence to bear to have them accept the 
proffered terms, but the archbishop Fernando de Tal- 
avera easily won the councilors by showing the injus- 
tice of lavishing such distinguished honors upon an 
impoverished, dreaming speculator of foreign birth, 
who would more likely bring only ridicule to the court 
of Spain for such gross credulity. The meeting came 
to naught; and, notwithstanding the encouraging 
assurances that were spoken to him by the unseen 
monitor, Columbus mounted his mule and set out for 
Cordova on his way to the court of France. 

Meantime, a more consequential meeting took place 
in the private audience room of the Queen of Castile. 
The beautiful and sagacious Marchioness of Moya 
had hastily summoned to Santa Fe the ardent friend 
of the great enterprise, Luis de St. Angel, who was 
receiver of the ecclesiastical funds of Arragon. A 
conference was held in her private parlor. Only those 
who had most influence with the sovereigns of Arra- 
gon and Castile were present. With Columbus on his 
way to France and the immediate advisers of the 
King and Queen all hostile, the case seemed hopeless 



44 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

to the little council of friends. The Marchioness of 
Moya opened the door of an adjoining room and pre- 
sented a stranger to the despairing conference. 

"Do not be astonished," she said, seating her 
charge before them, "at the presence of this simple 
peasant girl in the garb of her rude home. The 
Almighty Ruler employs many inscrutable ways 
through which to bring about voluntary obedience to 
His will, and not the least of them is the inspiration 
and presence of this girl of Palos de Moguer. Let 
her speak for herself." 

Without further adjuration, the peasant girl began 
to pour forth such a fervent and eloquent stream of 
brilliant visions concerning the creatures of God and 
the lands of the world beyond the seas, that the little 
assembly of learned men and women were breathless 
and speechless with mingled emotions of superstition 
and religious rapture. 

It has been hinted that this Moorish peasant girl of 
Palos was not the inspired medium of the saints, but 
rather the trained instrument of the Palos physician, 
Garcia Fernandez, taken in charge by the March- 
ioness of Moya to use as a religious influence, more 
powerful than argument, upon the emotional coun- 
cilors and rulers. It has been irreverently suggested 
that this fact was told to her confessor at the time of 
her tragic death, thus keeping the name of the peasant 
girl Merida from the records, robbing the world of 
a heroine, and keeping her name from the calendar of 
the saints. 

Nevertheless, at the end of Merida's story, the lis- 



MERIDA 45 

teners \vere ablaze with zeal for the spread of the 
Church and the glory of Spain beyond the sea. 

Luis de St. Angel sought immediate audience with 
the Queen of Castile. He was accompanied by the 
learned Alonzo de Quintanilla, and was at once 
ushered into the presence of Isabella. Then ensued 
one of the most passionate harangues that ever fell 
from the lips of a man aroused to frenzy for the exalta- 
tion and glory of his country and church. He warned, 
reproached, and entreated; he argued vehemently 
from scripture and science, and then in solemn adjura- 
tion advised her that an undoubted voice had come 
direct from God. The Marchioness of Moya was at 
hand with the inspired Merida, and the Queen with 
glowing eagerness heard the rapturous story of the 
visions that foretold surpassing glory for Spain. She 
at once sent for the King and laid before him the new 
evidence. But he listened coldly. How could he 
engage in such a doubtful enterprise when his treasury 
was exhausted with his long Moorish war? 

There was a moment of profound suspense, when 
the immortal exclamation broke forth : "I undertake 
the enterprise for my own crown of Castile, and I will 
pledge my jewels to raise the necessary funds." 

St. Angel, in exultant joy, immediately dispatched 
a messenger to overtake the departing navigator. 
About six miles from Granada, the co^urier came upon 
the lonely traveler crossing the bridge of Pinos at the 
foot of Mount Elvira. It was with great difficulty that 
the doubting man could be made tO' believe that his 
eighteen weary years of waiting and pleading at the 



46 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

courts of kings was now at an end. But such a mes- 
sage from St. Angel and Dona Beatriz was not to be 
ignored and he turned his mule's head once more 
toward the kingly court at Santa Fe. 

An agreement was soon effected and St. Angel 
advanced the necessary funds from the ecclesiastical 
coffers of Arragon. A few years later, in return for 
this loan, some of the first gold brought from the New 
World by Columbus was used to gild the walls of the 
royal saloon in the Saragoza palace, formerly the Alja- 
feria of the Moorish kings. 

A distressing period of preparation ensued. Sailors 
could not be found who were willing to face the ter- 
rors of unknown seas against all the superstitions 
of the age. The scientific men furnished ridicule with 
which the demagogues made those sailors who were 
willing to go appear as a laughing stock to all their 
friends, while ecclesiastics inveighed against the enter- 
prise as sacrilegious, until even the coercive measures 
resorted to by the King failed to secure or hold men 
in the service of the visionary foreigner. Then the 
wealthy and influential Pinzons of Palos came forward 
and offered to furnish one completely equipped ves- 
sel. This was accepted and the King ordered the 
seizure of such other vessels, crews and equipments 
as would complete the armament. All the world 
knows of the great voyage that followed, but only the 
peasants of Andalusia have retained in their household 
stories the legend that it was Merida who: influenced 
the Pinzons to their decisive step through the miracu- 
lous visions which she revealed to them. 

Among the crews there were many who had 



MERIDA 47 

shipped as sailors merely in reckless bravado, against 
the raillery and bantering jests of friends. These were 
mostly beardless youths of the lower aristocracy, 
whose adventurous spirits lived chiefly on excitement. 
In the anxious days early in October, when the sight 
of land was momentarily expected, these irresponsible 
and mercurial novices of the sea were the ones to be 
thrown into the greatest raptures at the cry of land, 
and were the most ungovernable and rebellious at 
every disappointment. 

On board the Santa Maria there was an obscure, 
common sailor, known as Juan Marido, who^ attained 
considerable influence over his comrades because of 
the unwavering serenity of his faith and his timely, 
fitting counsel. Often a word from him quieted the 
fears of the superstitious, and a look of the unobtru- 
sive youth made the turbulent less violent in their 
unreasoning passions. 

The mysterious voice that had cheered the great 
admiral at Santa Fe when he was pleading his cause 
at the royal court, was still with him through the 
perilous hours just before the dawn, of his mighty 
triumph. Through innumerable ways, someone, 
unknown, kept him fully informed of every word or 
act that threatened or affected his interests. Such was 
his knowledge of afifairs about him that the belief grew 
among the turbulent men that the admiral was a 
wizard. The most absurd stories that he was taking 
the entire squadron by diabolical contract direct to the 
dominions of Satan, became current morsels of gossip. 

On October 8th and 9th, the mutinous portions of 
the crew became united and a plot was laid to force the 



48 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

commander into a quarrel. A riot was toi ensue in 
which the admiral would as if by accident be throAA^ 
overboard. In this desperate situation, after all expe- 
dients had failed to satisfy the dangerous malcontents, 
from some unknown source came the compromising 
promise that if land were not discovered in three days, 
the expedition would be abandoned and all would turn 
about and set sail for Spain. Juan Marido was active 
in persuading his companions to be satisfied with this 
promise, and the proposed mutiny was thus averted. 

Some claim that Perez Matheo, one of the pilots, 
told this story tO' Oviedo', the historian, who, not 
doubting that Columbus had been thus weak willed, 
made it a part of history, although no other writer of 
that time gave it the least credence or support. How- 
ever, within the stipulated period land was reached 
and Columbus became one of the greatest heroics of 
all time. 

With the triumphant return of the great navigator, 
and his magnificent reception in Spain, began the 
intrigue and persecution that finally resulted in send- 
ing Don Francisco de Bobadilla to be his judge and 
successor in Hispaniola. Armed with extraordinary 
powers, this representative of the King set sail with 
two caravels and arrived at San Domingo August 23, 
1500. Columbus was then at Fort Conception, 
endeavoring to bring the lawless colonists and soldiers 
of Hispaniola to order. Bobadilla assumed control at 
once and made all the malcontents of the island his 
immediate counselors and friends. The exaggerated 
testimony of every seditious and factious subject who 
could say anything evil of Columbus was taken with 



MERIDA 4^ 

greedy unction, and the community became a caul- 
dron of turmoil. 

At the first morning mass after the arrival of Boba- 
dilla, while the people were assembled about the 
church, Bobadilla ordered his royal patents to be read, 
showing his absolute authority, and he boasted that 
Columbus would not only be sent home in chains, but 
that neither he nor his lineage would ever govern 
there again. 

In the midst of the excited throng a voice cried out : 
"Woe! woe! to the unjust judge!" Bobadilla was 
furious, but the bold accuser could not be found. 

When Columbus arrived at the town of San Domin- 
gO', it was ordered that irons at once be placed upon 
him, and he was confined on a caravel in the bay. The 
charges which were drawn up against him were pre- 
posterous, even for that ignorant and bigoted age, but 
they were witnessed and signed by every one who 
had been offended by his impartial discipline, or who 
hoped thereby tOi gain favor with Bobadilla. In the 
midst of this infamous court the clear cry again arose : 
"Woe! woe! tO' the unjust judge!" The indignant 
commander ordered diligent search to be made for 
the malefactor, but he could not be found. 

With this overwhelming documentary evidence of 
oppression, sacrilege, fraud, incompetence, and trea- 
son to the King, Columbus and his two brothers, 
Diego and Bartholomew, were sent to Spain for trial. 

Among the passengers on the returning vessels 
were several sailors who had been with the admiral on 
each of his three voyages, and they looked with horror 
on his treatment. One of them was Juan Marido, 



50 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

who prevailed upon the kindly disposed Villejo, in 
whose care the prisoners had been placed, to allow 
him to wait upon the afflicted discoverer. The droop- 
ing spirits of the great prisoner greatly revived by the 
inspiring attention of this common sailor, but he 
would not allow the sympathy of friends to remove 
from him any of the evidences of his sovereign's dis- 
pleasure and ingratitude. 

When they arrived at Cadiz and the facts became 
known, a great wave of indignation swept over Spain, 
and Juan Marido carried a long letter written by 
Columbus to Doiia Juana de la Torre, who was the 
aya or governess of Prince Juan, and then the favorite 
of Queen Isabella. In this he explained the charges 
against him and described the treatment he had 
received. 

Isabella was deeply pained at the injustice done the 
illustrious man. The two sovereigns wrote him an 
affectionate letter and ordered his immediate release. 
Eight thousand five hundred dollars were sent to him 
for his expenses, and he was invited to come at once 
to visit the royal court, then at Granada, where he was 
received with all his former distinction. 

More than a year of weary waiting for the restora- 
tion of rights and privileges ensued, with nothing done 
but to recall Bobadilla and replace him by Nicholas 
de Ovando. 

In the meantime, the peasants of Palos were sur- 
prised at the return of Merida, who had not been seen 
among them since she went ten years before to Santa 
Fe to set her mysterious visions before the Queen. 
She was in frequent communication with Juan Perez 



MERIDA 51 

and the physician Garcia Fernandez, the first friends 
and patrons of Columbus. They visited the March- 
ioness of Moya and held a conference with Isabella at 
Granada. The visions of Merida were against Colum- 
bus making another voyage. They showed nothing 
but suffering and peril. The admiral was past sixty- 
seven years of age, and his friends did not believe he 
could survive the hardships of another expedition. 
Every pressure was brought to bear to dissuade him 
from his purpose. The religious inspirations of 
Merida that had been so potent tO' help him to his 
first voyage were now as strongly used to turn him 
from the last. Nothing could avail against the cour- 
age and resolution of the old navigator. His friends 
sorrowfully saw him depart, as they believed, never to 
return. 

On June 29th, Columbus arrived at the mouth of 
the river off San Domingo, Hispaniola. Pedro de Ter- 
reros, captain of one of the caravels, was sent to the 
new governor, Ovando, to ask permission to enter the 
harbor for shelter from, an approaching storm. 
Ovando refused, and Columbus protected himself as 
much as he could by anchoring as securely as possible 
behind a promontory. Finding that Bobadilla and 
several others of his implacable enemies were about to 
set sail for Spain, he implored them not to leave the 
harbor until an approaching storm had passed; but, 
as they could see no signs of the predicted tempest, 
they scornfully rejected his warnings and sailed out 
into the open sea. Hardly had they left the bay, when 
a furious hurricane burst upon them. The two ves- 
sels containing the admiral's wretched foes went down 



53 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

with all their ill-gotten gain, and the others were so 
shattered as to be unseaworthy, excepting the one 
containing the confiscated property of Columbus, 
which pursued its way safely to Spain. 

Denied entrance to ports over which his sovereigns 
had solemnly agreed to give him and his lineage for- 
ever the vice-regal control, Columbus steered west- 
ward, arriving at the mainland near Cape Honduras. 
Nothing but ill wind, misfortune and disaster ensued, 
until they reached the Gulf of Darien, when the dis- 
heartened crew with their battered ships turned back. 
Storms continued to beat upon the unseaworthy ves- 
sels; and, barely able to keep afloat, they put into Dry 
Harbor, Jamaica, on St. John's day, June 23d. But, 
being unable to procure food, they sailed on east- 
ward a few leagues exhausted and almost dying, 
to the next small bay, where the sinking vessels 
were run aground close together. They were lashed 
to one another, and an attempt was made to make of 
them a safe retreat from the savages that thronged 
the shore, as well as from the storms and pitiless sea. 
Here, broken by age, racked with pain, and con- 
fined to his rude bed in the half-sunken vessel that any 
hour might go to pieces or be destroyed by the un- 
trustworthy savages, the intrepid admiral, his brother 
Bartholomew, and young son Fernando, fought their 
last battle with death in the New World. 

The only hope lay in help from Ovando, who had 
refused him entrance to the harbor of San Domingo. 
But many miles of treacherous seas lay between him 
and the nearest civilized men, and the best means 
available for so perilous a voyage by a messenger, was 



MERIDA 53 

the rude canoe of the natives. The task seemed 
impossible, but famine was imminent and any delay 
might mean the destruction of all. Some men with 
the required self-sacrifice and courage were found, and 
Columbus wrote his appeal for help. In a letter 
addressed to his sovereigns, he said : "Hitherto, I 
have wept for others; but now, have pity upon me, O 
Heaven, and weep for me, O earth ! Weep for me 
whoever has charity, truth and justice !" 

Days of weary waiting passed, and there was time 
enough for the messengers to have returned with help, 
but none came. In the common distress there were 
no spiritual advisers to infuse patience into the 
despondent men, or tO' hold them to obedience 
through religious fears, as the priests, who had started 
out with them,, went ashore at San Domingo and had 
refused to proceed further. But there was a young 
man on board who' had been with the stricken admiral 
on every voyage, and who had saved his life frequently 
through the most devoted and providential care. This 
young sailor, Juan Marido, passed among the dis- 
contented men like a soothing angel and quietly 
removed many of the irritations and rebellious ideas 
that fermented among the turbulent and feverish pris- 
oners of the unwholesome wrecks. Every device was 
used to^ keep the riotous malcontents in order. Their 
suj)erstitious fears were for a long time influenced by 
marvelous visions that Juan Marido related to them 
with thrilling eloquence, and there were mysterious 
voices as they sat about the decks at night, warning 
them, that disobedience to their commander meant 
destructioin. Nevertheless, there came a time when 



54 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

the lawless could no longer be restrained. January 2, 
1504, Francisco de Porras broke into the admiral's 
room, and, in a loud voice, accused him of keeping 
the crews there in order to see them perish. The 
mutineer declared that Columbus had no intention 
of ever returning to Spain. Reason and persuasion 
availed nothing, and with the cry, "Toi Castile! to 
Castile!" the twoi Porras brothers headed a mutiny 
of forty-eight of the strongest though most vicious 
men. Most of those who remained were helplessly 
sick, and the condition of the faithful ones seemed 
beyond hope. But, however bad their situation, that 
of the deserters became worse. They rowed away in 
the canoes so laboriously secured by Columbus, and 
set out for Hispaniola. The boisterous sea buffeted 
them back, and they tried again, with such results 
that they concluded to abandon the attempt and to 
live by forage upon the natives. Like a pestilence 
they ranged through the island — destroying, robbing 
and slaying wherever they went — so that all supplies 
were cut off from the sick and despairing companions 
of the admiral. During this time Juan Marido was 
the only one who could go among the natives and 
secure the food that kept starvation away. His pious 
ministrations made them look upon him as a saint. 

After eight months of indescribable anxiety for the 
fate of the courageous messengers tO' Hispaniola, a 
sail was seen late one evening coming into the har- 
bor. The despairing sailors were transported with 
delight at the sudden hope of immediate delivery. 
The ship was from Ovando. It came alongside and 



MERIDA 55 

hastily delivered a letter, a cask of wine, and a side 
of bacon. Then the commander, Diego de Escobar, 
who had been one of the most virulent enemies of 
Columbus, withdrew to a distance and expressed sor- 
row at the admiral's sore misfortunes. He offered to 
carry a letter to the Governor of Hispaniola, and 
Columbus hastened to write, imploring immediate 
help. Upon receiving the letter, Escobar at once 
hoisted sail and disappeared in the darkness of the 
same night. As distressing as this was to the mis- 
erable sufferers, it brought the confidence that their 
deplorable condition being known their speedy rescue 
must follow. 

Juan Marido, in the kindness of his heart, obtained 
leave to go with a trusted companion to the lawless 
wretches who were still terrorizing the villages of 
the interior, in an attempt to restore them once 
more to order. A piece of the side of bacon was taken 
along as indisputable evidence that Escobar had vis- 
ited the wrecks. Unconditional pardon was offered 
if the miscreants would at once return to obedience. 
Juan Marido and his companion had no difficulty in 
finding the marauders, but the overtures were scorn- 
fully rejected. Francisco de Porras assured the two 
peacemakers that his men were the lawful body and 
authority of the expedition, and that if any provisions 
had been sent in relief, his men must have them, 
either peaceably or by force of arms. The opinion, 
however, prevailed among the deserters, and was 
freely expressed, that if a relieving caravel had 
appeared, it was in truth only a phantom conjured 



5^- THRILLING ADVENTURES 

up by the Italian wizard to deceive his confiding 
dupes, in whose suffering he was taking Satanic pleas- 
ure, and which he wished to heighten by false hope. 
The messengers sorrowfully returned and reported 
the new danger threatening them. In a few days 
their fears were verified by the report of a friendly 
Indian that the deserters were at the village Maima, 
near the harbor now known as Mammee Bay, about 
a mile away. Juan Marido went again to persuade 
them to return to their allegiance and to abandon 
their unnatural menace to their more loyal brethren. 
Nothing would suffice. They were determined not 
only to possess themselves of all the stores of the loyal 
sailors, but to take the admiral captive and assume 
command. They at once marched forward in pur- 
suance of their designs, and the sick commander sent 
his brother to meet them with all the force that could 
be mustered. It consisted of fifty pale and debili- 
tated men. Six of the most muscular deserters 
agreed to make a combined onslaught upon Barthol- 
omew Columbus. By his death they believed victory 
would be easy. One of them, known as Pedro 
Ledesma, had the voice and physical courage of a 
wild bull. Just before the battle took place, he shook 
his lance at the peacemakers, who' even at the last 
moment were trying to avert the fratricidal conflict, 
and boasted that six of those lances would be through 
the body of the Italian leader of fighting imbeciles in 
a very few minutes. Juan Marido divined the mean- 
ing of the boast and was able to get together half a 
dozen to assist and guard their leader. With loud 
shouts the deserters rushed upon the defenders, while 



MERIDA 57 

the six desperadoes, led by Francisco de Porras and 
Pedro Ledesma, viciously attacked Bartholomew. 
The admiral's brother was a fighter and in his ele- 
ment. At the first shock four of the six confederates 
were killed, Porras was made a prisoner, and Ledesma 
was so nearly cut to pieces that he was left for dead 
in a ravine where he had fallen. In a sudden panic 
the cowardly remainder fled. 

Although Ledesma had wounds enough to kill a 
dozen men, he recovered. On the next day the fugi- 
tive deserters surrendered themselves in the most 
abject submission. Four more months passed, and 
public indignation was so aroused in Hispaniola that 
Ovando, the governor, was compelled to fit out a ship 
for the relief of Columbus and his men. 

Meanwhile, DiegO' Mendez, who had accomplished 
the seemingly hopeless task of crossing to Hispaniola 
as the messenger of Columbus, had exhausted all his 
resources to obtain help, and then set to work to 
collect rents from lands and property belonging to 
the admiral, in order to obtain the means of hiring 
a ship to go to the rescue. When he had succeeded 
and his boat was about to depart on the mission of 
long delayed mercy, Ovando hastily equipped a ship 
and put it under the command of Diego de Salcedo, 
who was the agent appointed to collect the rents 
belonging to Columbus in San Domingo. Las Casas, 
the renowned priest, whoi was at San Domingo at 
that time, says that popular indignation arose to such 
a pitch that the conduct of the governor was 
denounced from the pulpits. The two ships arrived 
together, and the miserable crews were carried to 



58 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

San Domingo, where they landed on the third of 
August. The magnanimous admiral pardoned all the 
miserable miscreants who had caused him such dis- 
tress during the long year of almost unparalleled suf- 
fering at Jamaica, excepting Francisco de Porras, 
whom he determined to take to Spain for trial. The 
twO' Porras brothers and Ledesma alone remained 
sullen and revengeful. Their chief hate was against 
the admiral, who, they claimed, had enticed them 
from Spain and plunged them into such dire misfor- 
tunes. Scarcely less was their hatred for Juan 
Marido, whose watchfulness had so often foiled them. 
That delicately featured youth, who seemed never to 
grow older, discovered the two irreconcilables in for- 
bidden conference, and their enmity was greatly 
increased by the severer restrictions that were 
adopted toward them. 

On September 12th, the sails that brought Colum- 
bus from his wrecks at Jamaica, were spread to carry 
him back tO' his ungrateful country. A tempestuous 
voyage ensued, and under cover of the storms Pedro 
Ledesma and Diego de Porras, the two sinister and 
revengeful characters on board, arranged a plan to 
slay the accuser of the seditious leader, who' was left 
a prisoner at Hispaniola. However, the watchful 
eyes of Juan Marido^ seemed always to see any evil 
that was meditated against the great discoverer. 

On the night of November 6th, as the shattered 
vessel lay off the harbor of San Lucar, between Palos 
and Cadiz, the watchman heard a cry and a struggle. 
Near the door of the commander's apartment, he 
found the admiral, who had been too weak to leave 




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MERIDA 6i 

his bed during the voyage, bending over the uncon- 
scious body of Juan Marido. There had been a vicious 
blow on the head and a fatal stab near the heart. No 
assailant had been seen, and the mystery was deep- 
ened by the unusual secrecy maintained over the 
stricken sailor. He was placed in the room occupied 
by the admiral's domestics, and his comrades were 
not allowed to see him. Several of these who had so 
long shared distress and misfortune with him, and 
believed in him as one inspired, were aroused to the 
greatest indignation at such an unnatural and cruel 
attack. Instinctively they saw signs of gilt in 
the sinister countenances of Pedro Ledesma and 
Diego de Porras, but this was forgotten in the joy 
that the end of their long sufifering was at hand. The 
next day they went ashore to scatter over the country 
among their admiring and rejoicing friends. 

Juan Marido was carried to the nearest convent and 
given over to the care of the nuns. Here there was 
continually some one of the sailors waiting about the 
gates, begging to know the fate of their beloved com- 
rade. 

In a few days the venerable Friar Juan Perez of La 
Rabida and the physician, Garcia Fernandez, came to 
the convent, bringing with them the aged mother of 
Merida. Two or three weeks passed, when one morn- 
ing the sailor who had most persistently lingered 
about the convent, saw a procession issuing from 
the gates, bearing with the utmost tenderness and 
respect a covered litter, in which he believed lay the 
body, dead or alive (he could not learn which), of the 
friend who had so cheered and helped him through 



62 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

many months of despair and suffering. He followed 
them on to Seville and learned that his friend was 
dying, but could not die contented until the hands of 
the almost equally helpless Columbus had been laid 
in a parting blessing upon his head. A few days later 
the sailor saw his friend buried in the ground reserved 
for the nuns in the garden of the convent of the 
Sacred Heart. Then he learned that Juan Marido 
was Merida of Palos, whom he had known in their 
early childhood. 

Las Casas, the venerable friend and historian of 
Columbus, says that Pedro Ledesma, the murderer 
of Merida, was some months later found dead in the 
streets of Seville with a dagger through his heart. 
Merida had left an avenger. 



OJEDA 

The Spaniards console themselves in their unfor- 
tunate experience with America that they have retired' 
with honor and have taken with them the bones of 
the discoverer. However, with the rest of mankind 
there are grave historic doubts as toi either of these 
claims being true. The tribulations, unrest and 
uncertainty connected with the removal of the illus- 
trious dust of Columbus from place to place, serves 
to recall interest in the fate of the remarkable char- 
acters who thronged in his wake to the New World. 
In most of them the highest motive was that of the 
unrestricted passion for adventure and lawless con- 
quest. 

On the second voyage, Columbus had with him a 
man small of stature but sinewy as a leopard, whose 
extraordinary bravado and reckless daring exceeded 
them all. This man of romantic adventures was then 
only twenty-one years of age, and yet he had already 
made himself famous for his reckless exploits in the 
Moorish wars. He was a page in the service of the 
powerful Don Luis de Cerda, Duke of Medina Celi, 
when he made himself notorious as the dare-devil 
Alonzo de Ojeda. 

Just before the fall of Malaga in 1487, during a 
desperate sally of Moorish cavalry, which surprised 
and put to rout his company while it was out on a 

63 



^4 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

gay parade, the youthful page Ojeda was made pris- 
oner. He was taken into Malaga, stripped of his 
brilliant uniform, and given the inglorious task of 
attending to the stalls of the horses. Nothing, how- 
ever, exasperated him so much as to see the horse 
that he had so patiently trained given over to a son 
of the captain, an unkempt imp of about his own age, 
with whom he had been compelled to exchange cloth- 
ing. Luckily, he had a Moorish cast of features, and 
his despised clothing was ultimately much to his ad- 
vantage. 

A few days after his capture it happened that, while 
assisting to water some horses at a well just outside 
the city, the Moorish boy, clad in his soiled page's 
uniform and riding Ojeda's horse, came up to quench 
his thirst. Less than a mile away, Ojeda could see 
the white tents of the Castilian besiegers. A daring 
thought struck him, and with him to think was to 
act. With a running leap he sprang upon the back 
of his horse behind the Moorish boy, locked his arms 
around him, struck his heels into the animal's flanks, 
and called out to the horse the well-known words of 
command. Like an arrow the animal sped toward 
the distant tents. The howls of rage from the men 
who followed as swiftly as possible upon the remain- 
ing steeds, and the shrieks of the struggling Moorish 
lad, aroused all the horsemen on the plain, and, with 
the war cry of the prophet, they converged from every 
direction upon the flying animal and its writhing, 
twisting riders. Hearing the uproar, and supposing 
an assault of the enemy was about to take place, the 
Moorish cavalry in the city sprang to their horses, 



OJEDA 67 

went with all speed to the plain, and formed in rank 
to resist a charge. 

Such an array of horsemen led the Spaniards to 
conclude that the Moors were making a last mad dash 
for liberty. The call to arms resounded, and the 
eager Castilians were in a moment on their horses 
with poised lances, sweeping toward the enemy. 

Supposing the oncoming Spaniards were the occa- 
sion of the alarm, the Moors stood their ground until 
driven back into the city by one of the most sangui- 
nary conflicts of the siege. The best of the Moorish 
cavalry had fallen, and all hope of help from without 
being lost, the city at last surrendered. 

The youthful Ojeda raced his obedient horse into 
the midst of the Spanish camp with his terrified pris- 
oner, and a little later had the pleasure of riding at 
the head of the procession, resplendent in a new uni- 
form, to witness the surrender of the city. 

Five years later, a more romantic episode occurred 
to distinguish him at the siege of Granada. Through 
some means not now known, the Moors had made 
captive a Christian girl distantly related to Dofia 
Beatriz, Marchioness of Moya, who then occupied 
a tent adjoining that of Queen Isabella. For a Chris- 
tian girl to be taken by the Moors meant immediate 
slavery in one of the harems, a fate so' abhorrent that 
it always called forth the most desperate expedients 
for rescue, and was the choice method of retaliation 
by the Moors upon the hated Castilians. 

When Ojeda heard of the capture, his impetuous 
nature was at once aflame with the resolution tO' res- 



68 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

cue her, although such a feat had been rarely accom- 
plished. 

It is doubtful if the youthful dare-devil ever laid 
any deliberate plans, but his first move in this case 
was to allow himself to be captured, presumably trust- 
ing to luck to keep his head on his shoulders and to 
find some way to escape captivity with the girl. At 
this time the Moors were too much occupied with 
the impending fall of the city to give the customary 
attention to prisoners. He was summarily manacled 
and cast like a piece of rubbish into one of the prisons 
adjoining the Alhambra. The city was full of dis- 
tress, confusion, dissensions, and disorder. So much 
so that the score of Spanish prisoners with him were 
nearly starved to death from neglect. Having small 
hands and large wrists, he succeeded, as he expected, 
in removing the manacles, with but little difhculty. 
Equipping himself in Moorish clothing, obtained 
from the prisoners, he waited until night, and, with a 
little assistance, performed the almost incredible feat 
of climbing like a cat up the corner of the stone 
prison. He removed a tile from the high roof, 
escaped to adjoining roofs, and then to the ground. 
His first care was to secure a rope, with which he 
returned to the roof of the prison, and, fastening it 
securely, let himself down among the astonished pris- 
oners. One of them being of Moorish extraction, 
and having been brought up in Malaga, was par- 
ticularly well fitted for the task in hand. Ojeda 
released him from his chains, and together they 
climbed the rope and escaped to the ground. The 
Streets were crowded all night with distressed and 



OJEDA 69 

anxious people, and the two escaped prisoners min- 
gled freely with them. 

The Spanish party that had been recently captured 
was so prominent that it was not long before a clew 
was obtained as to the place of their imprisonment. 
When morning came the two men found a lodging 
place and slept through the day. That night, 
strangely enough, they found that the girl and her 
mother were kept in a room adjoining, and commu- 
nicating with the great mosque in the center of the 
city. It was doubly difficult to communicate with 
them, since in the distressed state of the people, the 
mosque was crowded at all times with anxious wor- 
shipers. However, what Ojeda could not accomplish 
by some feat ol strategy, he did by reckless boldness. 
Procuring some Moorish male clothing, he awaited 
an hour when there were fewest chances of anyone 
being in the room but the prisoners, and then braced 
himself against the door, exerting such strength that 
its lock was broken. If there were any observers, they 
were too much occupied with their own woes to give 
the incident any attention. He went at once into the 
room and reassured the cowering women by telling 
them that he m,eant to assist the young lady to escape 
and that her mother would doubtless soon be at lib- 
erty, as he was assured that the city could not with- 
stand the siege but a few weeks longer. The girl 
hastily donned the clothing brought for her, and 
boldly walked out into the mosque and passed on into 
the street. 

In order toi throw pursuers ojff the track, he had 
instructed the mother to wait until she heard some 



70 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

one coming to the room, and then to cry out that 
her daughter had been taken from her by an unknown 
person. He expected by this means to be able to 
escape pursuit until the supreme effort to get out of 
the city had been made. It was about an hour before 
daylight when the twoi men and the disguised girl 
reached the city wall at an unfrequented place. They 
waited patiently until the sentinel came to relieve the 
man on the wall, when Ojeda sprang upon him so 
suddenly that there was no outcry, took the ladder 
he carried, and mounted the wall. With a stroke of 
the poniard the sentinel who^ was to be relieved was 
silenced as quickly as the other. Although it had 
been a dark night, which favored them so far, light 
was now breaking, and the utmost expedition was 
necessary. The ladder was drawn up and placed on 
the outside, when watchful sentinels, with keen 
ears, detected the unusual sounds, and called out their 
signals. Receiving no answer, they approached, just 
as the fugitives reached the ground. With loud cries, 
the sentinels called to the squad of horsemen that 
patrolled the outside, while the fleet-footed prisoners 
sped away toward the Spanish encampment. With 
answering cries the horsemen came on, the clatter of 
horses' feet being heard from all directions. Bidding 
the girl run on, the two men, armed with the lances 
taken from the dead sentinels, covered her flight. 
Objects were visible but a short distance in the dawn- 
ing light, when the first horseman to see them dashed 
upon them. Ojeda caught the horse by the nostrils,' 
and, with a powerful jerk, brought it to its knees. 
At the same moment the other man ran the horseman 



OJEDA 71 

through with the lance and dragged him to the 
ground. The two men then mounted the animal and 
sped on, ahead of their pursuers, to the girl, whom 
they snatched up behind them. A minute later they 
were safe among the astonished Spaniards. 

Las Casas relates that he knew Ojeda when he was 
renowned as having been in more personal quarrels, 
fights and feuds than any other man without ever 
having been wounded or having lost a drop of blood. 
Ojeda attributed this immunity toi a religious talis- 
man which he always wore about his neck, consist- 
ing of a small Flemish painting given him' by his 
patron, Fonesca, the bishop of Badajoz, who was a 
bitter and relentless enemy of Columbus, and did that 
great man more injury than all other evil influences 
combined. Herrera says that in the most dangerous 
situations, Ojeda would fasten the image of his mil- 
itary patroness to some object, calmly address his 
devotions to it, and then proceed with the utmost 
impetuosity to overwhelm his enemies. The writers 
of that time have many anecdotes of his daring esca- 
pades. Las Casas relates one that well illustrates his 
reckless character. Queen Isabella,, while in Seville, 
one day entered the tower of the cathedral. While 
looking out over the city from one of the balconies, 
she became aware that some object above her was 
greatly exciting the people far below her. Looking 
up, she saw to her horror that a man more than a hun- 
dred feet above her was dancing upon the end of a 
beam that projected about twenty feet from the struc- 
ture. After holding the people almost breathless for 
several minutes, he walked back, placed one foot 



72 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

against the tower, and threw an orange to the sum- 
mit. This was Ojeda, who became one of the great- 
est of Spain's early discoverers, and who founded the 
first settlement on the continent at San Sebastian, 
Darien. 

His first extended experience on the sea was with 
the second expedition of Columbus, in which his irre- 
pressible activity found exercise in every available 
enterprise of danger or hazardous exploit. Notably 
among these may be mentioned his search through 
the Island of Guadaloupe for nine lost sailors, and his 
visit to the interior of Hayti, which he believed to be 
Japan. 

The little town of Isabella, founded by Columbus 
in Hispaniola, was seriously menaced by a warlike 
Carib Cacique of the interior, known as Caonabo. 
This chief was surrounded by a strong and unusually 
well disciplined army in the midst of almost inaccessi- 
ble mountains, but Ojeda proposed tO' take ten picked 
men and bring him. a captive to Columbus. This wild 
project was in keeping with his love of extravagant 
exploits. In any other man such a proposal would 
have seemed ridiculous, but Ojeda had performed 
many a madcap feat equally hazardous and doubtful. 
He led his ten hardy followers over nearly two hun- 
dred miles of wild and hostile territory, to a place now 
called Maguana, near San Juan, where he found 
Caonabo preparing to resist to the utmost the estab- 
lishment of the Spaniards on the island. In several 
previous conflicts, Caonabo had learned to respect 
the prowess of Ojeda, and now when the Cacique saw 
that doughty fighter approaching him with all the. 



OJEDA 73 

deference shown to a sovereign prince, he was greatly 
pleased. Ojeda claimed that he had come tO' solicit 
Caonabo's friendship and to enter into a treaty with 
him. In a few days Ojeda had so ingratiated himself 
into the good will of the Cacique that the chieftain 
agreed to go to Isabella to negotiate the proposed 
treaty. As a sign of perpetual friendship, Caonabo 
was to carry back with him the chapel bell of Isabella, 
which was the wonder of all the islanders. 

When they were ready to start, Ojeda was sur- 
prised to find that the wily Cacique was to be accom- 
panied by a picked force of several thousand 
warriors. Ojeda inquired why he was taking such 
an armed force on a visit that was purely of a friendly 
character. The chief replied that he wished to visit 
his friends the Spaniards as became a prince of his 
power visiting in state such noble foreigners. 

It became evident that nothing but a daring strata- 
gem would effect the capture of the wily chief. The 
army marched on to the Little Yagui river, a branch 
of the Neyba, and halted for a period of rest. Here 
Ojeda produced a set of steel manacles, burnished 
till they shone like silver. He convinced Caonabo by 
a plausible piece of fiction that these elaborate 
shackles were royal ornaments worn by the Spanish 
sovereigns on occasions of great state. In order to 
dazzle Columbus with an insignia of such distinction 
and authority, it was advisable for CaonabO' to- pass 
through the royal consecrating ceremonies and then 
to wear the kingly bracelets. Thinking that this 
would confer upon him a special influence and 
authority over Columbus, Caonabo passed through 



74 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

an elaborate series of religious ceremonies, during 
which the shining bracelets were placed upon his 
wrists, he was set in front of Ojeda astride the horse, 
and the other Spanish horsemen gathered around 
them. At a word from Ojeda, they struck their heels 
into the flanks of their horses and dashed away with 
their amazed captive. They had yet more than one 
hundred and fifty miles of thickly settled Indian 
country to pass through, in which all the people were 
either subject to Caonabo or were his allies. Ojeda 
and his men shunned the most populous districts, 
swept in a compact body at the highest speed 
through the towns, with the Cacique in the center, 
bound tightly to his horse, and kept their way as 
much as possible through the most unfrequented for- 
ests. After much suffering from hunger, anxiety and 
fatigue, they reached Isabella in safety and delivered 
the dangerous chieftain to Columbus. 

Las Casas says that the Carib chief never deviated 
from that haughty and savage defiance so character- 
istic of the Indians. He would not pay the slightest 
heed or respect tO' any but Ojeda. It was the custom 
for all to arise when Columbus entered the room, but 
Caonabo refused to take any notice of his presence. 
However, Ojeda never came near him without the 
chieftain arising and saluting him with the profound- 
est respect. 

Several attempts were made by the subjects of 
Caonabo to rescue him, but in every instance, Ojeda 
with a handful of horsemen put them toi flight. A 
last effort was made by a brother of Caonabo with 



OJEDA 75 

seven thousand unusually well prepared men. The 
battle was conducted with considerable skill, but the 
steel-clad horsemen went through them with irresist- 
ible destruction, and the dismayed savages fled, 
abandoning all hope of ever successfully opposing 
the invaders of their island. In the sporadic insur- 
rections that followed, Ojeda added trained blood- 
hounds to his cavalry, and that savage terror was 
afterward used all over Spanish America for the 
extermination of the natives. 

When Columbus returned to Spain, Ojeda 
returned with him, but did not embark in the third 
voyage, which brought the admiral back in chains. 
He was ambitious to lead an expedition of his own. 
As he had a cousin of the same name who was one 
of the first inquisitors of Spain, and who stood in 
high favor with the Spanish sovereigns, he had good 
reason to expect a fulfillment of his desires. Another 
powerful friend was Don Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, 
who was an implacable enemy of Columbus, and who 
had charge of all the affairs regulating the govern- 
ment of the New World. It was he who had given 
the small Flemish painting of the Virgin to Ojeda, 
which excited in him such religious fervor and head- 
long courage. 

During the excitement occasioned by the letters 
sent back by Columbus from the early part of his 
third voyage, Ojeda easily obtained the equipment 
and authority desired, and he set sail from the port 
of St. Mary, opposite Cadiz, May 20, 1499. With 
him were Juan de la Cosa, who, next to Columbus, 



76 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

may be regarded as the ablest mariner of that day, 
and Amerigo Vespucci, the ruined Florentine mer- 
chant, whose name was given to the New World. 

In twenty-four days he reached the continent at 
the coast of Guiana, South America, about six hun- 
dred miles south of the lowest point reached by 
Columbus. He passed on northward, destroying, as 
a diversion, the war-like inhabitants of one of the Car- 
ribee islands in several sharply contested battles, in 
which he had one man killed and twenty-one 
wounded. A month later he entered a gulf in which 
he found built an Indian village reminding him so 
much of Venice that he named it Little Venice, or 
Venezuela. Here he met with a singular adventure. 
As soon as the natives saw the strange objects sail- 
ing into their bay, they fled to their lake-dwellings, 
drew in the bridges that connected them, and 
appeared to be in the greatest terror. While the 
Spaniards were gazing at the village a vast number 
of canoes filled with men entered the harbor. The 
Spaniards tried to hold communication with them, 
but the savages rowed to the shore and fled into the 
woods. 

In an hour some canoes came to the ships with six- 
teen girls, who were distributed equally, four to each 
ship, apparently as a peace offering. The people then 
came swarming about the ships in great numbers. 
Suddenly loud shrieks were heard from a lot of old 
women standing in the doors of the houses. The 
young women sprang overboard into the sea and 
swam like fish toward the shore. Concealed weapons 
were brandished from all sides, and a shower of arrows 



OJEDA 79 

was sent into the ships. The Spaniards turned their 
cannon upon the temerarious natives and put them 
to ignominious flight. Two' of the girls were recaps 
tured, but they escaped the same night. 

It is worthy to note that at the next place where 
they landed they enjoyed the most extreme hospital- 
ity. This was at a point supposed to be near where 
Maracaibo now stands. The people, and especially 
the women, were distinguished for their remarkable 
physical symmetry. They entreated Ojeda to allow 
a company of Spaniards to be taken into the interior, 
where others of their tribes could behold the marvel- 
ous visitors. Twenty-seven men were accorded this 
extraordinary privilege, and the Indians prepared lit- 
ters, on which the delighted Spaniards were carried 
with all the savage pomp of ancient kings. When the 
cavalcade of royal arch voluptuaries reappeared before 
their envious comrades, they were followed by many 
thousands of rejoicing natives, who made the forests 
ring with shouts and songs. 

It was here that Ojeda was so taken with the supe- 
rior intelligence and beauty of a daughter of one of 
the Indian Caciques, or chieftains, that he took her 
away with him, which, according to the Indian cus- 
toms, made her his wife. He named her Isabel, and 
she had no inconsiderable part in his subsequent 
career. 

It was also at this place where Ojeda wrote his 
account to Spain of meeting with an English fleet, 
of which there is no account in English history. It 
greatly excited the Spanish Government, and vigor- 
ous measures were at once taken to prevent the Eng- 



So THRILLING ADVENTURES 

lish from ever gaining a foothold in the New World, 
which they claimed as exclusively their owrr. 

Without finding any sources of the wealth he 
sought, he went to Hispaniola, where his commission 
forbade him tO' land, caused a great deal of unneces- 
sary trouble to Columbus, who was then at San Do- 
mingo, trying to bring order into his rebellious col- 
onies, sailed on to Porto Rico, and there loaded his 
ships with slaves, which he carried to Spain and sold. 
Although there were only about twenty dollars to 
each sailor in the division of the profits, yet the fame 
of Ojeda as a daring navigator was such that he easily 
obtained a fleet of four vessels for another voyage. 
The two partners in this enterprise who furnished the 
money went with him. They attempted to found a 
colony in Venezuela, but the expedition experienced 
nothing but disaster. The two partners put Ojeda in 
chains and set their sails for Hispaniola. 

It had been their intention to leave Isabel, the 
Indian princess, who believed herself to be the lawful 
wife of Ojeda, on the mainland at Bahia Honde, but 
owing to the friendship of the sailors for her, she was 
smuggled on board and went with him to Hispaniola. 
Ojeda planned tO' escape, and when the caravels 
anchored near the shore of Hispaniola, Isabel assisted 
him one night to get down over the side of the vessel 
with the intention of swimming ashore. She was able 
to free his hands from the manacles, but could not 
relieve him of the shackles on his feet. He was nearly 
half way toi the shore when he gave out and was 
compelled to call for help. A boat was sent out to 
bring the crestfallen prisoner back to the ship, but 



OJEDA 8i 

they refused to take in the Princess Isabel, and she 
was compelled to swim to the inhospitable shore. 

Toward the end of September, 1502, the prisoner 
was turned over to the Governor of San Domingo. 
The case was carried to Spain, and about all that is 
known of what followed is that he was so restored to 
favor in 1505 as to be given the command of another 
expedition to America. Three years later he was des- 
titute in Hispaniola, and was nursed through a severe 
fever by the faithful Isabel, who had maintained her- 
self during the previous six years among the natives 
about San Domingo, and had come to him as soon as 
she heard of his arrival. 

Ferdinand of Spain at this time decided that he 
wanted to send colonists to the Isthmus of Darien. 
Only two trustworthy men were available. One of 
these was the penniless Ojeda, the other was the rich 
and influential Diego de Nicuesa. The veteran pilot, 
Juan de la Cosa, used all his influence for Ojeda, and 
the King decided to divide the territory between 
them. They were made joint Governors of Jamaica, 
and given equal authority in their respective terri- 
tories. The richly equipped fleet of six vessels com- 
manded by Nicuesa, and the three scantily fitted car- 
avels furnished by La Cosa, arrived at San Domingo 
about the same time, where Ojeda was anxiously 
awaiting them. 

Not satisfied with his equipment, he succeeded in 
persuading a lawyer named Martin Fernandez de 
Enciso, who had saved about ten thousand dollars 
in the practice of his profession, to join him and invest 
his fortune in additional equipment. Meanwhile the 



82 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

rival Governors had embroiled the whole community 
in a fierce quarrel over their conflicting claims. Diego 
Columbus, then Governor of Hispaniola, settled the 
quarrel over Jamaica by asserting his own rights over 
that island. He sent Juan de Esquibel with seventy 
men to take possession and to hold the island against 
all comers. Ojeda swore by the image of the Virgin 
he wore that he would have Esquibel's head when- 
ever he had occasion to visit Jamaica, and Nicuesa — 
no less angered — put in command of his men the chief 
enemies of Columbus. 

Ojeda was remarkable for the noted men he gath- 
ered around him. On this expedition he had with him 
several who became famous, among who'm was Fran- 
cisco Pizarro, afterward the renowned conqueror of 
Peru. Hernando Cortez (the subsequent conqueror 
of Mexico) had engaged a place in the expedition, 
but was prevented from going by an inflammation of 
the knee. Among the crew of the ship taken to 
Ojeda's colony by the lawyer Martin Fernandez, was 
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who, in 15 13, discovered 
the Pacific Ocean, and in the relief vessel of Valdivia 
was Hernando De Soto, discoverer of the Mississippi, 
in 1542. 

On November 10, 1509, Ojeda left San Domingo, 
and, after a short and prosperous voyage, reached the 
mainland at Cartegena. The veteran pilot La Cosa 
had been here with Bastides eight years before, and 
he warned Ojeda not to run any risks with the natives, 
as they were dangerous warriors. All of La Cosa's 
hard-earned fortune was invested in this enterprise, 
and he begged Ojeda to go to a more hospitable 



OJEDA 83 

shore, where the natives were less ferocious and did 
not use poisoned weapons. Nothing appealed to 
Ojeda's sense of pleasure so much as the prospect of 
a hotly contested fight, and his sense of courage could 
not brook the thought of changing plans because of 
fear for a lot of naked savages. 

When the ships came to anchor the shore was at 
once thronged with a host of hostile natives. Ojeda 
at once landed most of his force and ordered his friars 
to proceed with their religious ceremonies, prepara- 
tory to the conversion or annihilation of the Indians. 
In reply the unteachable savages brandished their 
weapons, yelled their defiant war whoops, and 
sounded their martial conches. Ojeda addressed a 
short invocation to the image suspended about his 
neck, and ordered a furious charge. The Indians 
were routed and hotly pursued twelve miles into the 
forest, where they made a determined stand, but were 
again routed. 

The aged La Cosa fought with equal valor by the 
side of the impetuous Ojeda, but constantly warned 
him of the imminent peril of such an extended pur- 
suit. Regardless of these wise remonstrances, Ojeda 
continued the chase until late in the evening, when 
they arrived at the village Yurbaco. The place 
seemed deserted, and the Spaniards, supposing that 
the natives had fled in terror at their approach, scat- 
tered among the houses in search of booty. A mo- 
ment later the surrounding forest echoed vdth the 
whoops of warriors who poured in upon the surprised 
and disorganized Spaniards a bewildering shower of 
poisoned arrows. Each straggling body of men was 



84 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

surrounded by overwhelming numbers of the savages. 
In vain the desperate fight for Hfe was heroically- 
waged. For every Indian killed there seemed to be 
a score to take his place. Ojeda and several of his 
men succeeded in getting into an inclosure of pali- 
sades, which enabled them to maintain themselves 
longer than the others. La Cosa, with a larger body 
of men, had fought his way outside the principal ring 
of battle, but learning of the peril of Ojeda, turned 
back to his rescue and succeeded in reaching the pali- 
sade gate, where all but one fell under the unremit- 
ting hail of poisonous missiles. Just as La Cosa was 
struck down, Ojeda rushed with the ferocity of despair 
into the thick ranks of his enemy, and cut his way 
through their lines. La Cosa, though fatally 
wounded, succeeded in getting into a house with sev- 
eral others equally wounded, and there the little band 
of Spaniards defended themselves until they began to 
die in great agony from the poison. 

"Sally forth," said La Cosa in the midst of his 
agonies to the one man yet remaining unwounded, 
"and if it should ever be thy fortune to see Alonzo 
de Ojeda,, tell him of my fate !" 

This man, like Ojeda, by the impetuosity of his 
single assault, cut his way through, before the sav- 
ages could concentrate their forces upon him, and 
these two were the only survivors of the seventy men 
who had continued the pursuit of the savages into the 
forests^ 

As the days passed without tidings from the pur- 
suers, those on the ships became greatly alarmed. 
Scouting parties were sent out in all directions, but 




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OJEDA 87 

large bands of Indians everywhere drove them back. 
All attempts to find the missing men were about to 
be given up, when a searching party, passing by a 
mangrove swamp near the sea, saw the body of a 
Spaniard lying upon a tangled mass of roots. It was 
Ojeda, with his buckler over his shoulder and his 
sword in his hand. He was so weak that he could 
not speak. His buckler bore the dents of more than 
three hundred arrows, and, as usual, he attributed his 
escape to the Virgin patroness whose image he wore 
about his neck. 

A few days later, while he was seeking tO' recuperate 
on shore, the squadron of Nicuesa, his late enemy and 
bitter rival, came into view. Ojeda was now at his 
mercy, and he sent some friends to tell of the great 
misfortune that had befallen the expedition and to 
discover what Nicuesa would do. 

"Seek your commander instantly," cried the chiv- 
alrous Nicuesa, "and bring him to me. Myself and 
my men are at his service until the death of the brave 
and noble La Cosa and his comrades are avenged!" 

In a few days four hundred men set out for Yur- 
baco. A short way out from the shore some of the 
men came across an object that made Ojeda more 
furious for revenge than anything that had yet oc- 
curred. 

When the suspense over the fate of Ojeda had 
become most intense, just before he was discovered 
helpless on the mangrove roots, the faithful Isabel de- 
termined to set out alone to see if she could learn any- 
thing of the fate of her lord, trusting to her kinship 
with the Indians. Ojeda was much disturbed when 



88 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

he learned of the dangerous but loving mission on 
which she had gone, but all hoped for her safe return. 
The object which the advanced scouts brought so ten- 
derly back, was the body of Isabel. She had been 
bound to a tree and her body literally filled with poi- 
soned arrows. Ojeda kissed his image of the Virgin, 
and, laying his hand on the head of the faithful 
woman, swore that never again would he stay his 
sword in mercy to an Indian, a vow which not many 
weeks later was singularly broken. 

The Indian village that had been so disastrous to 
Ojeda was reached some time after nightfall. The 
force of men v^^as equally divided, and just before 
midnight, they approached silently from two sides 
upon the slumbering people. The chattering parrots 
that filled the trees, often made just as noisy by some 
prowling animal, drowned all the sounds made by the 
stealthy steps and cautiously whispered commands of 
the approaching men. Orders were given to permit 
no Indian to escape, and to take none alive. The sav- 
ages were so. completely surprised that they could 
make little defense. The slaughter was complete. 
Not a man, woman, or child was left alive. 

While ranging the village for booty, they found the 
body of Juan la Cosa tied tO' a tree, and so hideous 
from wounds and the poison that the soldiers would 
not remain the rest of the night in the gruesome place. 
After securing about thirty-seven thousand dollars 
worth of gold ornaments, they destroyed every ves- 
tige of the village. 

Nicuesa went back to his ships the sworn friend of 
Ojeda, who now took the advice of the lamented La 



OJEDA 89 

Cosa and sailed on to the Gulf of Uraba. A fort was 
built, but the incessant hostility of Indians with poi- 
soned arrows still surrounded them and harassed them 
at every step. Famine added to their horrors, and it 
seemed that they would be able to survive but a few 
days longer, when Bernardino de Talavera and his 
lawless band arrived with a well equipped Genoese 
ship, which he had seized from its owner and crew at 
Cape Tiburon, on the western end of Hispaniola. The 
relief did not last long, and they were again in the 
midst of famine, when Ojeda determined to return to 
Hispaniola in Talavera's stolen ship, it being the only 
seaworthy one in their pK)ssession, in order to obtain 
help, and to see why Martin Fernandez had not come 
on with the promised supplies. Relying on the great 
service they had been to the colony San Sebastian, 
and upon the influence of Ojeda, Talavera and 
his crew determined to go with the ship. Once at 
sea, the utterly incompatible characters of Ojeda and 
Talavera asserted themselves, and a quarrel ensued, 
in which Ojeda was put into irons by the crew. While 
not far from the coast of Cuba a violent hurricane 
came upon them, and Ojeda was released to help pilot 
the ship. Not long after, it was driven, a helpless 
wreck, upon the coast. The miserable men, now will- 
ingly led by Ojeda, set out along the wild and swampy 
shore for the eastern end of the island, in the hope 
of finding some way to reach Hispaniola. Their suf- 
ferings from famine and hostile natives, many of 
whom had fled from the terrors of San Domingo, were 
such that when they came to a village where lived the 
Cacique Cueybas, they sank to the ground exhausted, 



90 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

completely at the mercy of the Indian chief. So far 
from taking the opportunity for revenge, the Cacique 
tenderly cared for them as long as they chose to 
remain with him. 

Their only hope now seemed to be in reaching 
Jamaica, where there was a settlement established 
by Juan de Esquibel, whose head Ojeda had sworn 
to take off on his first visit to that island. But condi- 
tions were altered now, and Pedro de Ordas was sent 
across in a canoe with some Indians to solicit help for 
the wretched Spaniards. 

While starving and exhausted in the swamps, Ojeda 
had vowed tO' his Virgin patroness that if he were 
saved from the impending peril, he would erect a 
chapel in the first Indian village, and leave his beloved 
image there for the conversion of the heathen. This 
he did, and Las Casas says that on a visit there some 
years later he found the oratory kept in scrupulous 
order, and the image held in such reverence that the 
Cacique Cueybas ran away with it for fear the good 
bishop might steal it. 

When Pedro de Ordas reached Jamaica, so far from 
holding enmity against Ojeda, Esquibel at once sent 
a caravel for the unfortunate men, and cared for Ojeda 
at his own house. Ojeda was soon enabled to go to 
San Domingo, where he found that Martin Fernandez 
had already departed for San Sebastian with a ship 
load of supplies. 

On hearing that Talavera and his crew were at 
Jamaica, Diego Columbus, in accordance with his 
strict ideas of justice, sent some men with an order 
for their arrest, brought them to trial, and hanged 



OJEDA 91 

them. The testimony of Ojeda at the trial of Tala- 
vera and his men was largely instrumental in their 
conviction, and some of their friends resolved to assas- 
sinate him. One night, as he was going to his lodg- 
ings, he was set upon by a band of rufifians. His sword 
was out in a moment, with all his old-time vigor. 
Although assailed on all sides, he laid about so effect- 
ively that the midnight enemies recoiled and then 
fled, pursued by the valiant but prematurely aged war- 
rior. Not one of them escaped without a dangerous 
wound to nurse as a result of their lawless temerity. 
From this episode on, Ojeda is named no more in 
the Spanish records. This man of amazing feats and 
romantic exploits became a monk in the convent of 
San Francisco, according to Gomera, and Las Casas 
says that, when dying, he asked to be buried in the 
portal of the convent, so that all who entered might 
tread on his grave. 



NUNEZ 

The throng of adventurers infesting the New 
World four centuries ago contained none whose 
achievements were more deserving of honor, or whose 
fate was more deplorable, than those of the restless 
gentleman of fortune, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, dis- 
coverer of the Pacific Ocean. Like others of the 
impoverished nobility of Spain, he took the first op- 
portunity to sail to the land of promise in the belief 
that he could find unlimited fortune on its golden 
shores. Failing to get the desired reward in his voy- 
age along Terra Firma with La Cosa and Bastides, 
he tried farming in Hispaniola, but succeeded only in 
getting so deeply in debt that he could not escape 
from his creditors when he sought to try his fortune 
on other voyages. At last an opportunity came which 
he determined not to lose. The Bachelor Martin Fer- 
nandez de Enciso was about to sail to San Sebastian, 
Darien, with supplies for Ojeda. Notwithstanding his 
creditors, he determined to go. Stratagem was neces- 
sary, but a gentleman of fortune is not usually want- 
ing in resources. When the vessel of Fernandez was 
well out to sea, a cask which had come from the farm 
of Vasco Nunez, and supposed to be a contribution 
of provisions for the colony, suddenly burst open, and 
the urbane Nunez stood smiling before the astonished 
Fernandez. The Bachelor was furious at being thus 

92 



NUNEZ 93- 

imposed upon, and swore that he would set Nunez 
ashore on the first land they touched. However, the 
accomplished and polished Nunez soon proved him- 
self to be such a valuable recruit, that the oath of Fer- 
nandez was never carried into execution. A more 
remarkable destiny was in store. At the harbor of 
Cartagena, while ashore repairing a boat, a brigantine 
came up, commanded by Francisco Pizarro, with 
about thirty men, all that remained of Ojeda's settle- 
ment, to which Fernandez was repairing with his sup- 
plies. After considerable persuasion, Pizarro and his 
men agreed to return, and San Sebastian once more 
received its colonists, but they were again speedily 
reduced to starvation. Vasco Nunez suggested the 
happy expedient of possessing themselves of a pros- 
perous Indian village which he had seen on the west 
side of the Gulf of Uraba when he was on the voyage 
with Bastides. As soon as possible San Sebastian was 
abandoned for the new land of promise. The village 
was found, the Indians were dispossessed, and the 
promised wealth of provisions and spoils was secured, 
amid great rejoicings at their good fortune. The 
unhappy natives fought hard, but could not withstand 
their steel-clad foes, and so the famous Spanish town 
of Darien came at once into existence. All the coun- 
try round was plundered, and fifty-five thousand dol- 
lars worth of gold ornaments was soon in the coffers 
of the colony. As Spaniards in those days were never 
known to live at peace with themselves or others, it 
was not long before the colony was rent with hostile 
factions, prominent in which was the rising leader, 
Vasco Nunez de Balboa. 



94 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

In the midst of this trouble the boom of cannon 
was heard across the bay, and a vessel, which proved to 
be one searching for the settlement of Nicuesa, came 
into view. As the source of their dissensions was in the 
fact that Darien had been discovered to be just inside 
the territory of Nicuesa, a happy solution appeared 
in the proposition to send an invitation with Colme- 
nares, commander of the brigantine, to Nicuesa, offer- 
ing to him the governorship of the colony. But the 
condition of Nicuesa and his men at Nombre de Dios 
was worse than that of the colonists at Darien. He 
had lost by starvation all but a handful of his men, and 
when he appeared on the brigantine with his woe- 
begone followers, the faction under Nunez refused to 
allow them to land. The unhappy Nicuesa begged to 
be permitted to live among them, even as a prisoner 
in irons rather than to be compelled to return to Nom- 
bre de Dios. At this Nunez repented and championed 
his cause, but the rabble forced him to depart. He 
sailed away for Hispaniola, and neither Nicuesa, the 
rival of Ojeda, nor his crew, was ever heard of again. 

As Nunez was the only one who had shown him 
any friendship, Nicuesa, just before his departure, pre- 
sented him with a powerful bloodhound, named Leon- 
cico, which in the many tragic scenes that followed, 
became almost as famous in Spanish annals as his 
master. He always received a soldier's share of the 
booty; and, in this way, earned for Nunez nearly five 
thousand dollars. Hardly had Nicuesa left the har- 
bor, when the man who had so humbly sailed away 
from Hispaniola in a cask, on the ship which Fernan- 
dez commanded, was recognized as the chief man in 



NUNEZ 97 

the colony. Fernandez was tried for the unlawful 
usurpation of authority in a territory outside of his 
jurisdiction, his property was confiscated, and he was 
imprisoned, but a little later allowed to return to 
Spain. 

A few unfortunates having been left by Nicuesa to 
hold Nombre de Dios, Nunez sent two brigantines to 
bring them to Darien. On the return voyage, two 
Spaniards, who had fled nearly two years before from 
some punishment of Nicuesa, and had taken refuge 
with Careta, the Cacique of Coyba, were picked up. 
Their story of the riches of their late host was eagerly 
devoured, and a plan was laid to ravage the territory 
of the chief. One of them went on to Darien to act 
as guide for a party of invasion, and the other returned 
to the Cacique to assist in his betrayal. 

In a few days Nunez set out for Coyba with one 
hundred and thirty men. The Cacique Careta hos- 
pitably received the Spaniards and set a feast before 
them. Appearing to be satisfied, the Spaniards left 
their host with many expressions of good will, but 
that night returned, captured the village, and took 
everything of value that could be found. 

"What have I done," Careta asked, when brought 
before Nunez, "that I and my people should be 
treated so cruelly? Have I not welcomed thee and 
thy people as my brothers? Set us free and we will 
remain thy friends. Dost thou doubt me? Then 
behold my daughter. I give her to thee as a pledge 
of friendship. Take her for thy wife and be assured 
of the lasting friendship of her family and her people." 

Nunez recognized the fact that it would be of great 



98 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

advantage to him and the colony to have such a pow- 
erful native ally. He therefore accepted the offer of 
friendship, and the Indian princess, according to 
Indian usage, became the wife of the Spaniard. Her 
quick intelligence, courage, and faithfulness made her 
his companion in many perilous enterprises, and his 
loyalty to her had much to do with his lamentable 
fate. 

According to the terms of this alliance, the enemies 
of Careta were speedily reduced, and the spoils 
received amply repaid the Spaniards. While on a 
friendly visit to Comagre, a neighboring Cacique, the 
eldest son of the chief presented the Spaniards with 
four thousand ounces of gold and sixty slaves. A 
quarrel began over the division of the gift and devel- 
oped into a general fight. In great indignation and 
disgust, the Indian prince struck the pile of gold to 
the floor with his fist and exclaimed : "If this sordid 
metal is indeed so precious in your eyes that in the 
hope of finding it you abandon your homes, invade 
the distant lands of others, exposing yourselves to such 
suffering and peril, I will tell you of a land where you 
may gratify your utmost wishes. Look to those lofty 
mountains in the south. Their streams run down 
through sands of gold into a mighty sea. The kings 
who reign upon its borders eat from golden vessels 
and drink from golden bowls." 

The vast prospect afforded by this information was 
such as to change the Castilian adventurer into a 
world benefactor, inspired with the loftiest ambitions. 
He realized that if he found an ocean beyond the con- 



NUNEZ 99 

tinent, it would cause him to be ranked among the 
greatest discoverers of the earth. 

From the best information he could gather, the 
power of the chiefs through whose territory he must 
pass, was such that it would require a picked force 
of not less than twelve hundred men. Full of the 
grand purpose before him, Nunez returned to Darien 
and dispatched Valdivia to Hispaniola with the royal 
fifth of about seventy-five thousand dollars in gold for 
the King, and a letter to Diego Columbus, asking him 
to use his influence with the King to secure the neces- 
sary twelve hundred soldiers with which to make his 
way to the western ocean and conquer the fabulously 
rich kingdoms. The frail bark of Valdivia was thrown 
by a storm among the rocks known as the Vipers, off 
the south coast of Jamaica, where it went to pieces. 
The crew of twenty men escaped in a boat, but the 
storm drove them upon the coast of Yucatan, in the 
cannibal province of Maya. The unfortunate sur- 
vivors, excepting nine, were sacrificed to the idols 
and then devoured by the savages. Five men and two 
women died natural deaths, and two, a priest and a 
soldier, escaped, the priest being rescued eight years 
later by Cortez, 

The interval during which Nunez was waiting for 
the return of Valdivia was occupied with several 
romantic expeditions for gold, varied by savage war- 
fare against the hostile natives. The watchfulness and 
devotion of the Indian princess several times saved 
both Nunez and the settlement from disastrous con- 
spiracies made by the surrounding foes, and such was 
the deadly determination of the crafty Indians to kill 



loo THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Nunez, that of forty who had been sent to assist in 
cultivating his plantation, every one had been sworn 
to take his life. But Leoncico, the bloodhound, more 
terrible in his peculiar discernment, devotion, and 
bloody prowess than any Spanish soldier, was always 
prowling near his master, and not one of the Indians 
sworn to kill him had dared to lift a hand against 
him. On one occasion, when the factions in the set- 
tlement became unusually turbulent, Nunez left, 
ostensibly on a hunting expedition, but in reality to 
let them have the experience of their own injudicious 
control. Before da)'^break he left the scene of his 
riotous countrymen and set out for the home of the 
Cacique Careta, with the Indian girl behind him upon 
a horse, and the great bloodhound, in reality a species 
of mastiff, carefully reconnoitering, as was his custom, 
both sides of the way some distance ahead. The vigi- 
lance, intelligence and prowess of this animal was such 
that Nunez was relieved of all fear of ambush or 
attempts at assassination. 

Arriving at a small village about ten miles from 
Darien, he stopped with the chief for rest and food. 
Although hospitably entertained, he had no reason 
for any considerable faith in the friendship of his host. 
While partaking of the food set before them in the 
Indian's hut, a furious commotion was heard, mingled 
with the savage snarls of Leoncico. Rushing outside, 
they found the animal standing over the prostrate 
body of an Indian, whose throat was torn in shreds, 
while a dozen others were crouching together against 
the wall of the house, with their spears presented in 
defense, each fearing to throw his weapon, lest he 



NUNEZ 103 

become the next object of the animal's fury. In a 
few minutes at least a hundred armed men gathered 
round, vociferously demanding the death of the 
dreaded dog. 

An untouched piece of meat lay upon the ground, 
near which a javelin was sticking in the ground. One 
of the dog's ears was slit and bleeding, as if the spear 
had barely missed its mark. These things Nunez 
quickly discovered, and, knowing that the animal never 
made an attack without cause, he acted with his usual 
promptitude. Seizing his host by the throat, he threw 
him to the ground and ordered the intelligent dog not 
to allow him to arise. Knowing that the least move- 
ment meant death, the chief lay prostrate on the 
ground, a terrified prisoner, while Nunez scattered the 
awed braves with his sword. After due investigation, 
he became convinced that an attempt had been made 
to kill Leoncico, which was doubtless to be followed 
by an attack upon himself. The chief and his men 
so strenuously denied this that Nunez allowed them 
to believe his suspicions allayed. The body of the 
slain Indian was ordered to be removed, the chief lib- 
erated, and the interrupted meal was resumed as tran- 
quilly as if nothing had occurred. 

While he was leaving the village, his princess drew 
attention to the fact that not an Indian warrior was 
to be seen except those of the chief's household. 
However disquieting this fact, Nunez relied on the 
sagacity of Leoncico to warn him of any immediate 
danger. 

Two or three miles from the village the dog sud- 
denly struck a trail quite a distance from the main 



I04 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

road and followed it rapidly. He had been taught to 
track nothing but men, and his excitement indicated 
that enemies were near. In a few minutes his pro- 
longed but snappy baying not far ahead indicated that 
he had come upon his game. The forest was not 
dense on this part of the coast, and they soon saw an 
Indian in the lower branches of a tree, directly in the 
path some distance ahead. The dog was twenty or 
thirty paces away from the Indian and was walking 
back and forth in an open space, as if defying an 
unseen foe. Nunez stopped when he had drawn near 
enough to study the actions of the dog, while the 
Indian girl sprang from the horse and ran to speak 
with the Indian in the tree. When she was half way 
to him she suddenly paused, turned about, and started 
to run. At this, a score or more natives came from 
their hiding places and began to menace the dog with 
their weapons, while one caught the girl and 
attempted to carry her away. She had been taught 
to use the Spanish ladies' stiletto, and, drawing one 
from her cloak, struck her captor down at a blow. 
Nearly a hundred men were now between her and 
Nunez, and she stood with uplifted weapon, uncertain 
what to do. 

Nunez called the dog to him and quickly strapped 
a kind of armor upon him, which did not impede his 
movements, but efifectually protected his body, neck 
and head from the arrows and crude javelins of the 
Indians. He likewise covered his horse with a harness 
of mail, always carried for such an emergency. Just 
as this was completed, a shower of arrows rattled 
against his buckler. He drew his sword, sprang into 



NUNEZ 105 

the saddle, and at the word of command both horse 
and dog sprang eagerly forward to their well-known 
duty. 

It was a hundred men to one, but savages were, 
even in such numbers, no match for the man who had 
the aid of both steel and beasts. These men had seen 
the Spaniards fight, and dreaded the ferocity of the 
beasts that helped them, but they believed that with 
such numbers, protected by their native forests, they 
could rid their country of this chief of the foreigners, 
and destroy the famous animals that gave him his 
power. 

At the first charge of the horse, they ran behind 
trees and rained their missiles upon the approaching 
foes. Not the slightest effect came of their efforts, 
and one after another they shrank from the mouth of 
the dog, only to fall upon the still more fatal sword. 
At a signal the frantic assailants rushed upon Nunez 
and tried to drag him from his horse. The sword 
flashed back and forth like a weaver's shuttle, 
and blood sprang from the throats and breasts of fall- 
ing men. But even the dying clung to the Spaniard's 
legs, and he seemed about to be drawn to the ground, 
when the savage mouthings of the dog in front, 
accompanied by the flash of the woman's stiletto upon 
naked backs, opened a way and the horse plunged 
forward out of the bloody mass. But it was only for 
the rider to return to the charge, and in a moment 
more the battle of the naked pygmies against the steel- 
clad giant ceased. They ran howling in every direc- 
tion, as if they were flying in helpless terror from some 
implacable monster. 



io6 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Nunez was contented to let them escape, the armor 
was taken from horse and dog, the girl resumed her 
place behind him on the horse, and they went on to 
their destination. 

Within a fortnight a messenger arrived in haste 
from Darien, praying Nunez to return and suppress 
the anarchy that had reigned since his departure. This 
was done, and then the evil news came that the Bach- 
elor Fernandez had obtained at the court of Spain 
a verdict for heavy damages against Nunez, and that 
an order had been procured commanding him to 
repair at once to Castile to answer for the death of 
Nicuesa. His exalted ambitions were about to be 
struck down, and his brilliant opportunities forever 
lost. But the royal order had not yet arrived, and his 
only hope lay in taking advantage of the delay. He 
hastily got together one hundred and ninety of the 
most hardy and courageous men, a number of friendly 
Indians, and a score of bloodhounds, over which 
Leoncico was solemnly appointed captain. With this 
force he set out September i, 15 13, to accompHsh 
what he believed would be a difficult task with a thou- 
sand well-equipped horsemen. He went by water to 
the home of the Cacique Careta, who gave him guides 
and additional men. Careta's daughter refused to be 
left behind, and insisted on sharing the perils of the 
expedition with the Spanish chief, whom she rever- 
enced as her husband according to Indian law. Leon- 
cico marched at her side, as if conscious that she was 
in his special charge. In the perils of the forest and 
during the battles with hostile natives, Leoncico val- 



NUNEZ 109 

orously performed his share, but he never forgot or 
neglected his mistress. 

Half of the force were left to guard the brigantine 
and piraguas in which they came to^ the province of 
Careta, and with the meager remainder, Nunez pen- 
etrated to the foot of the mountain range, beyond 
which lay the great discovery which was the object of 
his high ambition. Only sixty-seven Spaniards were 
able to take up the march tO' the summit. After a 
night's rest the little band set forth at daylight, Sep- 
tember 26, 15 13. At 10 o'clock they emerged from 
the forest upon the bare top near the summit. Here 
Nunez advanced alone to an eminence from which 
his Indian guides told him the ocean could be seen. 

The sublime prospect of the great sea inspired him 
with the most exalted emotions. He fell upon his 
knees and gave grateful thanks for having been made 
the humble means of such a glorious discovery. His 
followers were then called to share with him the gor- 
geous spectacle of sparkling rivers and gleaming sea. 
They were thrown into^ religious transports at the 
splendor of the scene and the glory of the achieve- 
ment. In prayers, songs, and shouts of praise, they 
embraced one another and swore to live and die the 
devoted follow^ers of Vasco Nunez de Balboa. • 

The commander then called upon all to witness that 
in the name of the sovereigns of Castile, he took pos- 
session forever of that sea, with all the islands it con- 
tained and all the shores it touched. A week later he 
succeeded in passing down the long mountain slope 
through the territory of warlike Indians to the shore 
of the sea. Wading into the water with his drawn 



no THRILLING ADVENTURES 

sword, he declared that the ocean and all that it con- 
tained or touched was annexed forever to Spain, with 
all the appertaining kingdoms or provinces by what- 
ever right or title, ancient or modern, in times past, 
present or to come, so long as the world endured, and 
until the final day of judgment of all mankind. It is 
a matter of curious comment that the last shred of 
all such Spanish claims vanished in the last year of 
the Nineteenth Century. 

Two chiefs on different occasions told Nunez of 
the rich countries toward the south, and had he lived 
he would doiubtless have been the conqueror of Peru, 
instead of Pizarro, who listened to the stories and 
profited by the downfall of his leader. 

After ravaging all the territory within their reach 
and undergoing the greatest hardships, the adventur- 
ous band of Spaniards, with a vast quantity of booty, 
reached Darien, January 19, 15 14. 

Meanwhile the King, greatly incensed against 
Nunez, appointed Don Pedrarias Davila Governor of 
Darien, and so great was the desire for adventure in 
the new country that Pedrarias soon had two thou- 
sand men and a fleet of fifteen ships. He was ordered 
to proceed at once to Darien, take hold of the affairs 
ol the colony, and try Vasco Nunez for his alleged 
crimes. Accordingly he embarked for the New 
World only a few days before the tardy messengers 
of Nunez arrived, bringing news of the discoveries 
and achievements that should have made him, next to 
Columbus, the idol of the Spanish nation. 

When Pedrarias arrived at Darien, Nunez wel- 
comed him with the full measure of respect and obedi- 



NUNEZ III 

ence. Like most Spanish Governors, Pedrarias 
desired to be free of all rivals, and he took the most 
astute course to that end. Nunez was too popular 
and powerful to be proceeded with harshly or hur- 
riedly, and Pedrarias played the part of intriguing 
politician, a hypocracy unknown to Nunez. Under 
the pending investigation, he was kept at home while 
important enterprises and expeditions were given to 
favorites of the Governor. Seeing that he was to be 
thus ruined and his discoveries turned to the profit 
and. honor of others, he secretly sent Andres Garabito 
to Cuba for the purpose of securing an equipment for 
an expedition across the isthmus from Nombre de 
Dios to the shores of the Southern Ocean. If his 
plans had not been constantly defeated through the 
enmity of Pedrarias, in this period he would have dis- 
covered and doubtless conquered Peru, making allies 
and friends of the natives instead of using such cru- 
elty and slaughter as marked the course of Pizarro. 
Nunez was remarkable for the respect and friend- 
liness he inspired among the Indians. It was not long 
after he obtained full control over Darien that a Span- 
iard could go unarmed within a day's journey with- 
out the slightest fear of harm, but soon after the rule 
of Pedrarias began, the wanton cruelty of his partisans 
was such that, according to. Las Casas, the people 
were at all times harassed with the most distressing 
alarm. Every tree seemed to shelter a deadly arrow, 
darkness brought forth a thrust of the javelin from 
every isolated spot in the town, and dark spots on the 
plains or distant hillsides became hordes of revenge- 
ful savages about to^ overwhelm them. 



112 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Meantime, Andres Garabito returned from Cuba 
with a ship and seventy men, equipped for the south- 
ern expedition. He hovered off the coast and secretly 
sent word to Nunez, but the watchful Pedrarias heard 
of it and forbade him, under arrest, from leaving the 
town. Garabito was compelled to go on to Nombre 
de Dios alone and disband his expedition. 

Pedrarias saw that the popular power was steadily 
slipping from his grasp into the hands of Nunez. The 
Franciscan friar, Juan de Quevedo, who had come 
over with Pedrarias as bishop of Darien, although his 
constant companion and adviser, had been at all times 
the friend of Nunez. In this deplorable condition of 
the colony, the good bishop devised a plan which he 
fondly hoped would secure better government and 
bring peace to the disorganized and suffering com- 
munity. 

"Why drive a man to be your deadliest enemy," 
said the diplomatic bishop to the envious and vindic- 
tive Governor, "when there is a way to make him 
your most powerful friend ? You have in Spain several 
daughters, one of whom you can make his wife. Thus 
you will have a son-in-law who will bring prosperity to 
your family and whose achievements will redound to 
the splendor of your administration." 

The wily peacemaker then represented to Nunez 
that further antagonism between him and the Gov- 
ernor meant the ruin of both and the destruction of 
the colony. Accordingly, articles of agreement were 
drawn up, specifying that the Governor's daughter, 
then in Spain, should be sent for at once and married 
to Nunez on her arrival in Darien. Nunez, now 



NUNEZ 113 

relieved of all impediments, believed the time had 
come for the realization of his dreams for the explora- 
tion and conquest of the fabulously wealthy nations 
oi the south. He began this enterprise with the pro- 
digious feat of transporting across the Isthmus of 
Darien the material for the construction of the brigan- 
tines in which he was to sail on the ocean he had dis- 
covered. This Herculean task caused Herrera to 
exclaim : "Only Spaniards could have conceived or 
persisted in such an incredible undertaking, and no 
commander in the New World but Vasco' Nunez could 
have conducted it to a successful issue." 

While at the Isla Rica, news came that Pedrarias 
had been superseded in the governorship by Lope de 
Sosa. As this might materially affect his plans, he 
entrusted Andres GarabitO', his former agent to Cuba, 
with the mission to find out if it were true. Unknown 
to Nunez, Garabito had become his vindictive enemy 
for having been rebuked severely in return for some 
derogatory remarks he had made against the charac- 
ter of the Indian princess, who had remained with her 
father, Careta, since the expedition of discovery to the 
ocean. Before leaving on this last expedition, Gara- 
bito had written to Pedrarias that Nunez was too much 
infatuated with the Indian girl ever tO' marry his 
daughter, and that the agreement had been entered 
into merely for the sake of gaining time in the scheme 
to overthrow the Governor. 

When Garabito reached Ada, near Darien, he found 
that the new Governor had died as his ship entered the 
harbor, and Pedrarias was more strongly intrenched 
in power than ever. He caused himself to be arrested 



ii4 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

on suspicion, and in a confession accused Nunez of 
treasonable schemes against Pedrarias and the King. 
Burning with revengeful enmity, the Governor sent a 
friendly message to Nunez to return to Ada for an 
important conference, and at the same time ordered 
Francisco Pizarro with a strong force to meet him and 
take him prisoner at any cost. 

Unsuspicious of any danger, Nunez set out for Ada, 
and as he neared that place, met Pizarro, who made the 
required arrest. 

"How is this, Francisco?" he exclaimed. "Is this 
your accustomed greeting?" 

In the trial that followed it took little trouble on 
the part of Pedrarias to secure a verdict of death. The 
friends of the great discoverer appealed to the Gov- 
ernor for mercy. 

"No!" vindictively returned the implacable Pedra- 
rias, "If he has merited the verdict of death, let him 
suffer the penalty." 

Accordingly Vasco Nunez and several of his com- 
panions were publicly executed in the open square of 
Ada. 

It is said that the Indian princess was kept in igno- 
rance of what was transpiring until she got a hint that 
Nunez was at Ada, in trouble. Inspired with all the 
anxieties of her faithful love, she started at once to 
help him. On entering the town, she saw his head 
upon a high pole in the public square. Wild with hor- 
ror, she attempted to take it down, when she was shot 
by a soldier and her body thrown to the dogs. 



MARINA 

A singular circumstance is connected with the own- 
ership of the Philippines which turns attention back 
to the romantic conquest of Mexico. Although the 
Philippines were discovered by Magellan, their occu- 
pation, for more than three centuries was distinctly 
the result of Mexican enterprise, as was that of Cali- 
fornia. Yet when Mexico obtained its independence 
it took California without question and laid no claim 
to the Philippines. The title of the American posses- 
sions lay in the hands of the Spanish sovereigns, and 
were no part of the integral territory of Spain. 

Mexico itself was discovered through the enterprise 
of Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, who secured the pre- 
liminary equipment for Cortes and gave him his com- 
mission. Cortes severed his relations with Velasquez, 
and on his own responsibility made New Spain a 
princely gift to Charles V. The royal fifth which the 
sovereigns received in their own right was a kind of 
rental tax in the farming-out process, which fastened 
such leeches and cormorants upon the Spanish col- 
onies. 

The New World attracted only such adventurers as 
had no hope for fortune or glory in the vast European 
dominions of the Spanish monarch. Cortes was one 
of the most desperate of these, and when he set sail 

"S 



ii6 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

for Yucatan, most of his equipment and authority con- 
sisted in what he had seized by sheer audacity. 

When Cordova returned from an expedition to 
Yucatan a few months previous to the expedition of 
Cortes, he told a curious story of the word Castilian 
having been frequently repeated very distinctly to him 
by the natives, but he could not understand what they 
meant. It was finally decided that some castaway 
Spaniards might be among them, and Cortes was 
instructed to make a reasonable search. Inquiry 
among the Indians at the Island of Cozumel, near the 
coast of Yucatan, confirmed this belief so much that 
a letter was written and an Indian prevailed upon to 
carry it to the alleged white captives, telling them to 
appear at a certain point on the coast and they would 
be ransomed. The Indian messenger hid the letter in 
his hair and set forth upon his dubious errand. 
Through the imperfect medium of sign language and 
the little Spanish learned by a Yucatan Indian brought 
to Cuba by Grijalva, no intelligent communication 
could yet be established. 

Neither messenger nor captive white men appeared, 
and the fleet left the island. Not far away one of the 
vessels sprung a leak, and the fleet was compelled to 
return to the island. As they were again about to set 
sail, a canoe was seen approaching from the mainland 
on the other side of the island. One of the ship's boats 
was ordered to intercept it, surprise the occupants, and 
capture them. At the first sight of the Spanish boat, 
the Indians sprang into the water with such precipi- 
tation that their canoe was overturned. All reached 
the shore and hid themselves in the underbrush, 



I 



MARINA 119 

excepting one, who stood on the beach and boldly 
awaited the Spaniards. 

They noticed wonderingly not only his absence of 
fear, but that he had a bit of a stocking tied about one 
leg. A still smaller piece of European cloth was tied 
about his waist. From his neck there hung the tat- 
tered remnant of a prayer book. When their boat 
touched the shore near him he fell upon his knees, 
spat upon the sand, and rubbed some of the moistened 
earth upon his forehead and over his heart. Then he 
arose and tried to speak, but they could not under- 
stand his strange words. At last they distinguished 
the word Castilian, and they realized that one of their 
captive countrymen stood before them. He called 
his Indian companions to him, and together they were 
taken before Cortes. 

''Which is the Spaniard?" asked the commander, 
unable to distinguish between them. The captive 
kneeled at his feet, and Cortes threw his cloak over 
the naked shoulders. But it was a long time before he 
could endure the touch of clothing or the taste of the 
Spanish food, and several days elapsed before he had 
recovered his mother tongue enough to make his story 
intelligible. It was then learned that his name was 
Geronimo de Aguilar, and that he had been a priest 
with Valdivia. Nearly nine years before they had 
been wrecked upon the Viper rocks south of Jamaica, 
and the entire crew, escaping in their small boat, were 
driven upon the coast of Maya,, in Yucatan. Valdivia 
and all the others but the priest, Aguilar and a sailor, 
Gonsalo Guerrero, were sacrificed to the idols and 
eaten by the priests and worshipers. Another account, 



I20 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

perhaps more reliable, says that seven of the men and 
the two women died natural deaths. However, the 
most generally accepted historian of this episode says 
that the two who escaped the sacrifice hid behind the 
smoke of the altar; and, while the priests were search- 
ing for them, escaped into the woods. They continued 
their flight until they came into the territory of 
another Cacique, before whom they were taken by 
some Indians, and who made them his slaves. 

Aguilar kept his priestly vows, but the chief, in curi- 
osity, caused him to be tempted beyond all the trials 
of St. Anthony. Guerrero married into the chief's 
household, and in time became so renowned for his 
prowess in war that he was raised next to the Cacique 
in authority and wealth. 

Aguilar received the letter of Cortes in due time 
to reach the appointed place, but he hastened to Guer- 
rero, who lived some distance away, in order that he, 
too, could have the glorious opportunity to return to 
his countrymen. To the astonishment of the priest, 
his companion in captivity refused at once to go. 
Aguilar pleaded in vain. 

"Brother Aguilar," said Guerrero, "I have united 
myself here to one of the women of this country, by 
whom I have three children; and I am, during war 
time, as good as Cacique or chief. Return to our 
countrymen. Go ! and may God be with you. As 
for myself, I could not again appear among them with 
comfort. My face is disfigured according to Indian 
custom. My ears are pierced and my lip turned down. 
What would my countrymen say to see me in this 
attire ! I could not endure their mirth. Only look 



MARINA 121 

at my children. What lovely little creatures they are 
growing to be. How could I leave them ! Pray give 
me for them some of the glass beads our countrymen 
sent you. I will say they are presents sent to my chil- 
dren from my brethren in my fatherland." 

Aguilar could not prevail over Guerrero's resolu- 
tion, and was compelled tO' bid him a sorrowful adieu. 

De Solis, the Spanish historian, in speaking of the 
refusal of Guerrero, says : "Guerrero', having married 
a rich Indian, by whom he had three or four children, 
excused his stay by his love for them, pretending 
natural affection, as a reason why he should not aban- 
don those deplorable conveniences, which with him 
weighed more than honor or religion. We do' not find 
that any other Spaniard, in the whole course of these 
conquests, committed the like crime ; nor was the name 
of this wretch worthy to be remembered in this his- 
tory. But, being found in the writings of others, it 
could not be concealed. His example serves to show 
us the weakness of nature, and into what an abyss of 
misery a man may fall, when God has abandoned him." 

A heavy ransom of hawk-bells and glass beads was 
paid for the priest and he was free, but the interpreter 
so essential to Cortes was not yet provided, as Aguilar 
could speak only the language used in the limited ter- 
ritory of Yucatan. However, this pressing need was 
soon supplied in a most unexpected and romantic man- 
ner. 

Cortes left Cozumel, went around the coast of Yuca- 
tan and landed his men at the Grijalva River in New 
Spain. With about five hundred Spaniards, two hun- 
dred Cuban Indians, twelve horses and ten small brass 



122 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

cannon, he marched on intoi the interior. The inhabi- 
tants fled before him until he came tOi the province of 
Tabasco. There his first battle was fought with the 
natives, and he accomplished their complete subjec- 
tion. Among the presents which they brought to 
their conqueror were twenty slave girls, whose work 
was to grind corn with a stone pestle and mortar, 
which they carried constantly with them as a badge 
of their servitude. One of them was of such command- 
ing presence, intellectual countenance and truly royal 
beauty that she attracted at once the attention of 
Cortes. 

While trying to communicate with her by signs, 
she spoke some words that caused Aguilar tO' inter- 
rupt the commander in great excitement. He under- 
stood her language. Communication was thus estab- 
lished with the natives, and her remarkable story was 
learned. As it afterward occurred, she became a New 
World Joseph to her guilty people. 

She was the only child of the Cacique of Painala, 
tributary to the Montezumas. When she was quite 
young her father died and her mother remarried. By 
inheritance she was the chief of the territory, but a 
son being born to her mother, its step-father wanted 
it to become the Cacique. In order to bring this 
about, it was necessary to dispose of the princess, and 
she was secretly sold to some Indians going into Yuca- 
tan. It was given out that she was dead, and the guilty 
ones expected never tO' hear of her again. Some 
years later she was sold to the Tabascans, who' gave 
her to Cortes. The Spaniards could talk to Aguilar, 
he could interpret it to the princess in the language 



MARINA 123 

of Yucatan, and she in turn made it known to the 
Tabascans and Mexicans. Thus the Old World was 
put into communication with the New. 

Cortes was a handsome man, of the most pleasing 
demeanor, and the Indian girl soon loved him with a 
fervor and fidelity which made her the constant com- 
panion of his most desperate sufferings and perilous 
campaigns. Historians agree that without her, Cortes 
would never have been the conqueror of the Monte- 
zumas. 

She readily accepted Christianity and was baptized 
under the name Marina, being the first Christian con- 
vert on the continent of North America. 

"Beautiful as a goddess !" exclaimed Camargo in 
his history of the conquest, and all who saw her were 
unstinted in their praise of her dignity, kindness and 
grace. She was always faithful to. the Spaniards, 
regardless of the shameful betrayal which Cortes 
imposed upon her unenlightened spirit. She was of 
incalculable service to the conquerors. Several times 
by her keen watchfulness and intelligent understand- 
ing of the natives, she saved them from disaster and 
destruction. Many Indian ballads sing her virtues, 
and Melinche, as she was fondly known to the Aztecs, 
is the familiar spirit of Chepultepec. In a little time 
she learned Castilian, and became the indispensable 
interpreter and secretary of Cortes. He never 
appeared in public without her by his side, and the 
only name by which he was known over all New Spain 
was Mo'linche, which meant lord of Marina. 

After defeating the Tabascans, Cortes plunged 
onward through the hosts of warriors that disputed 



124 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

his progress. With every victory he increased his 
strength by making friends and allies of the conquered 
nation. Montezuma, at the height of Aztec glory and 
power, watched the coming of the strangers with 
gloomy foreboding, yet hoping that on the way they 
would meet destruction. 

At Cholula, aptly called the Rome of Anahuac, 
because of its being the center of the Aztec religion, 
a conspiracy was formed which meant inevitable 
destruction to the invaders. This was the last city on 
the road to the great capital where lived the lord of 
all New Spain, in unapproachable dignity and splen- 
dor. Every instinct of religion, home and nation made 
it imperative that the unappeasable strangers should 
be allowed to come noi nearer to the capital, and a 
crushing conspiracy for their destruction was com- 
pleted. 

Marina, always alert, keen and resourceful, became 
suspicious that treachery was meditated. A son of one 
of the principal chiefs became greatly enamored of her, 
and so caused his mother to go to Marina and prevail 
on her to leave the Spaniards, as the gods had decreed 
their destruction. As if in great alarm, Marina went 
to her room and brought away her most prized treas- 
ures. Then the chief's wife, in greater confidence, 
told her that twenty thousand of the emperor's best 
troops were encamped near, ready to join the Cholu- 
lans in a sudden assault upon the handful of Spaniards, 
who were hopelessly cooped up in the narrow streets 
of the city. 

Marina returned to get the rest of her personal 
effects, during which she managed to give Cortes the 



MARINA 125 

startling news. She then returned for the purpose of 
securing more information from the confiding Cho- 
lulan. 

With his accustomed promptness, the commander 
seized three visiting chiefs and caused them to confess, 
amidst their protestations of innocence, that the Cho- 
lulans were planning the destruction of their guests. 
This discovery was all the more alarming as Cortes, 
believing in the friendship of the Cholulans, had 
allowed himself to be quartered at a great disadvan- 
tage, where his accustomed tactics could not be 
employed. This showed that the natives began to 
understand the invaders. The multitudes might no 
longer be appalled by the unknown thunder of artil- 
lery. Heretofore the hosts in the rear of the fighting 
men heard the terrifying roar and saw the black clouds 
of smoke arising, under which their men fell like grass 
before the hurricane. Suddenly monsters half animal 
and half man came tearing through the broken ranks 
of their warriors, and the panic of a dreadful fear seized 
them as they fled from before such all-devouring mon- 
sters. European discipline had taken advantage of 
every weakness, and unresisted butchery ensued as 
long as the slaughtering arms could lift lance and 
sword, or while there was a flying or groveling foe to 
be seen. Closer contact, however, had shown the 
Spaniards to be only ordinar}^ men, using superior skill 
and better weapons. Awe was no longer an ally of the 
invaders, and the natives had resorted to stratagem. 
Cortes learned that the time set for the attack on him 
was to begin as he started to leave the city, and while 
his men were separated in the narrow streets. A force 



126 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

of about forty thousand men had been selected for this 
purpose, and they were at hand ready for the com- 
mand. 

As if falling more completely into the trap, Cortes 
called the chief priests, through whom most of the 
important business was transacted, and told them that, 
being about to leave, he wanted to meet the chiefs to 
bid them farewell, at the same time asking to be pro- 
vided with an escort of two thousand men. 

The great public court where the Spanish troops 
were quartered was surrounded partly by high build- 
ings and the remainder by a wall, through which there 
v/ere three wide gates. Early the following morning 
Cortes placed his cannon on the outside of the gates, 
so as toi sweep the avenues leading tO' the court, and 
drew up his men in order at the advantageous points. 
Hardly was this done when the chiefs appeared with 
double the men required and entered the enclosure. 
Cortes came up quickly to the chiefs, with Marina by 
his side, and through her accused them of the treach- 
ery they were about to commit. They were struck 
with awe and terror at the power which the white chief 
had to read even their thoughts. 

*T will now make such an example of your treach- 
ery," said Cortes, "that the report of it shall ring 
throughout the wide borders of Anahuac." 

This was the signal for the firing of an arquebuse, 
and in an instant volley after volley of guns and cross- 
bows jXDured into the mass of natives in the center. 
They tried to escape through the gates, but impreg- 
nable rows of lances thrust them back. They tried to 
climb the walls, but their bodies were only so much 



MARINA 127 

better targets for the Spaniards. Others tried to hide 
under the bodies of the slain, but the ruthless swords 
soon found them out. 

Hearing the firing of cannon, the Tlascalan allies, 
who had not been permitted by the Cholulans to enter 
the city, bound wreathes of sedge around their heads, 
so that they could be distinguished from the enemy 
by the Spaniards, and furiously fell upon the forces 
guarding the entrance to the city. The slaughter pro- 
ceeded like a conflagration, excepting for a strong 
force under the priests, which took possession of the 
great pyramidal temple. This force could be reached 
only by the ascent of one hundred and twenty broad 
steps running around the four sides of the lofty pyra- 
mid. 

In the face of stones, darts, and blazing arrows, the 
Spaniards scaled the steps of the vast edifice, and, with 
the burning arrows, set fire to the citadel containing 
the Cholulan warriors. Quarter was offered to them, 
but only one man accepted it, the others perished in 
the flames or threw themselves over the parapet and 
were dashed to pieces far below. Hardly a native war- 
rior was left alive, and the city was given up to unre- 
stricted pillage. 

Cortes had at all times expressed to the Aztec am- 
bassadors the profoundest respect for Montezuma, so 
that when the Spaniards were nearing his capital, he 
prepared to receive them in a splendor that rivaled 
the Orient in magnificent ceremony. Marina rode by 
the side of Cortes, and by her eloquence and address, 
completely won the susceptible heart of the Aztec 
King. 



128 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

The Spaniards had a saying, "He has not seen any- 
thing who has not seen Granada," and yet all agreed 
that the Aztec capital was more magnificent than Gra- 
nada. In the center of this city of half a million inhab- 
itants, Cortes, with all his men and allies, was installed 
by the unbounded hospitality of Montezuma. A 
Spanish historian states that if a single horse had been 
known to them, even as a captive in one of the great 
museums of the capital, many Spanish armies would 
have perished before the city could have been taken. 

When Cortes decided that the easiest way to make 
himself master of the city was to hold the life of Mon- 
tezuma in his hand, he found that the Oriental seclu- 
sion of the Emperor furnished a ready opportunity. 
Quietly, and in such numbers as not to arouse sus- 
picion, picked men stationed themselves along the 
street to the palace. Numerous others wandered into 
the palace, as if they were merely gratifying their curi- 
osity. Then Cortes, with Marina, and five of the men 
most noted in the annals of the conquest, sought an 
audience with the Emperor. A complaint was made 
that two Spaniards in a distant part of the empire had 
been killed by the Emperor's orders. Regardless of 
his protestations, he was told that he must become a 
hostage with the Spaniards until the matter was sat- 
isfactorily settled, or his life would be instantly taken. 
Montezuma listened in horrified amazement. 

"When was it ever heard," he exclaimed, "that such 
a great prince as I left his palace to become the pris- 
oner of a handful of strangers within his own gates?" 

Two hours had passed in the strange controversy, 
and the impatient Velasquez de Leon cried out: 



MARINA 129 

"Waste no more words! Seize the barbarian, and if 
he resists, let us plunge our swords into his body!" 

With a face white as death at the ang-ry words of 
the soldier, the monarch turned and asked pitifully 
of Marina what it meant. She explained as gently as 
she could that he must go with the Spaniards, who 
promised to treat him as became a King. To deny 
this and incur their wrath, doubtless meant instant 
death. The fervent appeal of Marina changed the 
resolution of her Emperor, and he bowed his will to 
the inexplicable boldness of the irresistible strangers. 

Marina was constantly tender and solicitous for the 
comfort of her sovereign. He came to look upon her 
as a daughter, and to rely implicitly upon her counsel. 

After Cortes had the city well in his own hands, and 
Montezuma, with his nobles and chiefs, had taken the 
oath of vassalage to the Spanish crown, Marina joy- 
fully carried the word to her sovereign that he was 
now a free man and could return to his palace. He 
did not do so, for the reason, it is said, that Aguilar 
immediately informed him that the soldiers were bit- 
terly opposed to it. They believed that the captivity 
of the King kept the populace in subjection, and 
Montezuma, so anxious not to have repeated in Mex- 
ico the horrors of such a massacre as had deluged with 
blood their holy city of Cholula,, preferred to be a 
prisoner. 

But the storm broke at last with a demoniacal fury 
almost unprecedented in the annals of history. 
Velasquez of Cuba, whom Cortes had deserted in 
assuming complete command in New Spain, sent Nar- 
vaez with two ships and orders to arrest and super- 



1 30 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

sede Cortes in authority. While the undaunted con- 
queror was gone to the coast on the famous expedi- 
tion which resulted in the capture of Narvaez and the 
absorption of his entire command, Alvarado, the 
future conqueror of Guatemala, and soldier of fortune 
with Pizarro in Peru, was left in coimmand at the 
Aztec capital. At this tirile the chiefs and nobles of 
Mexico and its tributaries gathered at a great annual 
religious festival. The Spaniards, for some cause 
never satisfactorily explained, were ordered to attack 
them. A slaughter followed, more horrible in all its 
details than that of Cholula. After the first recoil of 
horror, the frenzied people turned upon the Spaniards 
like ravenous wolves. Supplies were cut ofif, and the 
audacious invaders were lost unless help came soon. 

Through the influence of Marina, in whom Bernal 
Diaz, the most reliable historian of the expedition, 
says he never saw weakness or fear, Montezuma was 
induced to mount the battlements and persuade his 
people not to storm the fortress. In this they obeyed 
him, but it was the last respect they ever paid to him 
whom they had reverenced and feared next to their 
gods. 

At this time Cortes, triumphant over the enemies 
of his own country, and with the additional forces 
acquired from his capture of Narvaez, entered the city. 
Soon after the drawbridges on the causeways, con- 
necting the island on which the city was situated with 
the outer shore of the lake, were destroyed, and one 
of the most desperate and relentless conflicts ever 
waged was begun. 

Slowly the infuriated hosts, regardless of the bloody 



MARINA 133 

havoc wrought against them by sword and cannon, 
pressed closer and closer upon the wretched garrison. 
At last came the pitiable end of Montezuma. He was 
persuaded to ascend the central turret of the palace 
and advise his people to permit the Spaniards unmo- 
lested to leave the city. As he appeared, the war cries 
ceased, and many fell prostrate as before the presence 
of a god. He spoke only a few words in favor of leni- 
ency to the Spaniard, when reverence vanished, and 
the people were electrified with scorn. 

"Base Aztec!" they cried. "Woman! Coward! 
The white men have made you fit only to weave and 
spin !" 

Then a hail of missiles fell about him, and he sank 
into the arms of his attendants, mortally wounded. 
While the natives were paralyzed with the revulsion 
of horror at having slain him whom they had so feared 
and venerated, Cortez, at the head of a little band, 
assaulted the pyramid temple, from whose broad plat- 
form at the top a band of Mexican nobles were ena- 
bled to throw into the Spanish quarters a constant hail 
of arrows and stones. Up the broad steps the heroic 
band went in the face of the arrows, stones and beams 
that rained down upon them, while the cavalry fought 
the enemy away from the base of the temple and kept 
the way open to the Spanish quarters. Both armies 
watched with fearful interest the death struggle going 
on to its finish far over their heads. Once they saw 
two warriors seize Cortes and drag him to the edge of 
the great platform. There was a moment of fearful 
suspense, when one of the Aztecs was flung far over 
the edge, his body rebounding from steps and plat- 



134 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

forms to the earth far below, while the other assailant 
sank down almost severed in twain by the command- 
er's sword. In half an hour every Mexican in the 
monster edifice was dead, and the Spaniards, in their 
religious fervor, rolled crashing over the sides of the 
towering pyramid all the hideous, blood-covered sta- 
tues, idols, and sacrificial stones. 

A lull in the sanguinary struggle followed, and 
Cortes believed the opportunity favorable to make 
terms with the maddened populace. 

With Marina at his side he mounted to the turret 
in the palace from which Montezuma had so mourn- 
fully addressed his desperate people. The clear, musi- 
cal voice of the far-famed Indian girl secured at once 
the most respectful attention. But the plea she was 
given to translate was only that of reproach upon the 
Aztecs as being the cause of such fearful bloodshed, 
with the command for immediate and unconditional 
surrender. 

"If you do not," was the conclusion, 'T will make 
your city a heap of blood and ashes, and leave not a 
soul alive to mourn over it." 

Their reply was startling enough : "We are all con- 
tent if for every thousand Mexicans who fall there has 
been shed the blood of one Spaniard. Our city is 
thronged with warriors as far as your eyes can reach, 
and you will soon be in our hands. The bridges are 
broken down and you cannot escape. We mourn that 
there will soon be too few of you to glut the vengeance 
of our gods." 

A volley of arrows from the infuriated Aztecs ended 
the conference. 



MARINA 135 

The dreadful truth was fast becoming clear to^ the 
mind of every soldier. The only chance for life lay 
in fighting their way over the broken causeways to 
the nearest shore, more than a mile away. The night 
this was attempted is known in Spanish annals as 
"The melancholy night." The score of slaughter was 
reversed, regardless of the most heroic valor. Secretly 
and silently the Spaniards and their allies moved out 
of their quarters and passed along the deserted streets 
toward the nearest causeway. Suddenly the shrill 
scream of a woman broke the stillness of the night, 
made inky dark by the drizzling rain. Instantly echo- 
ing cries resounded over the city, and the hosts of 
warriors poured in upon the fleeing Spaniards. The 
long, narrow causeway was at last gained, when the 
shrill war cries of myriad assailants on either side in 
canoes were heard coming nearer and nearer. Then 
there was poured upon the long, narrow line of Span- 
iards and their allies a storm of missiles. In the midst 
of the bloody conflict of this midnight procession, 
Marina and the women, armed with shield and sword, 
fought for their lives as valiantly as did the men. One 
Marie de Estrada is especially noted for the daring 
deeds she performed. In that desperate retreat there 
were many feats of heroism that rivaled the valor of 
the demi-gods of the Grecians. Two-thirds of the 
Spaniards and more than three-fourths of the Indian 
allies who had entered the city were dead, and the 
remnant was but a disorganized mass when the shore 
was reached. Not a gun or cannon was saved, and 
yet the exhausted men fought their way onward 
through two hundred thousand warriors, gathered a 



136 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

few miles away at Otompan, and arrived safely among 
their friends at Tlascala. 

In the course of a few months the indefatigable and 
indomitable Cortes secured such reinforcements from 
ships and men sent by Velasquez to help Narvaez that 
he turned once more toward the capital of the Aztecs. 
The story of how he fought his way back into the city 
through myriads of natives, who cared nothing for 
life as long as they could inflict a wound, and the hor- 
rible process of the remorseless conflict, which reduced 
the city, as Cortes had threatened, to a pile of blood 
and ashes, wherein a quarter of a million people per- 
ished, all reads more like a wild Oriental romance 
than the pitiable truth. 

Not satisfied with the complete prostration of Mex- 
ico, which he asked Charles V to call New Spain of 
the Ocean Sea, Cortes set forth on an expedition of 
conquest to Honduras, taking with him the indispen- 
sable and equally tireless Marina. 

A strange occurrence then took place in her history. 
At the place now called the Lake of Peten, Cortes 
summoned to meet him all the neighboring Caciques, 
chiefs and rulers. When they were assembled, Marina 
came forward to speak to them in the name of the 
great conqueror to whom they had come to pay their 
homage. All present noted a marvelous resemblance 
between Marina and one of the visitors, who was 
queen-mother of the powerful Maya tribe. The 
frightened woman saw that Marina was her daughter, 
whom she had sold into slavery, and she believed that 
she had been brought there to meet the just punish- 
of death for her unnatural crime. But the gentle 



MARINA 137 

Marina ran to her with all a child's affection, loaded 
the unworthy parent with caresses, and covered her 
with the jewels she wore. Marina implored her 
mother not to grieve for the fault committed so long 
ago, since it had redounded so much to the glory of 
God and the Christian redemption of Mexico, 

Bemal Diaz says that he heard her tell her people 
that if she had been born chieftainess of all the prov- 
inces of New Spain, the only pleasure that she could 
derive from it would be that she could give them all 
to Cortes. 

It was on this expedition that Cortes gave her away 
in legal marriage to a Castilian knight named Jara- 
millo, who was afterward standard-bearer of the City 
of Mexico. From this time on the name of Marina 
and the Aztec title of Malinche, given to Cortes, dis- 
appears from the Spanish annals. But it is known 
that the Spanish Government, in consideration of her 
distinguished services, gave her estates and pleasure 
gardens, both in the country and City of Mexico. 
One of the most famous mountains in New Spain was 
named for her, and a bronze equestrian statue of her 
now stands in the city of Pueblo. As mention is made 
during her lifetime of her grandchildren, it is likely 
that she lived tO' a good old age, recognized by all as 
one of the greatest heroines of Indian America. 



THE LAND OF WAR 

Patriotic heroism is esteemed by most nations as 
the highest virtue of the citizen. Next to this in uni- 
versal commendation is that of religious heroism. As 
the Spaniard has always combined both of tljese in 
a high degree, his nation has from this point of view 
many heroes with the most daring exploits to their 
credit. 

Singularly enough, every nation believes itself to be 
blessed with the greatest heroes and the most heroic 
achievements. From the pioneers at Jamestown and 
Plymouth Rock to the last fight at Manila, the citi- 
zens of the great American republic read rapturously 
of courageous deeds, and exalt their heroes. But as 
romance, all this makes poor reading by the side of 
the extraordinary exploits recorded in the annals of 
Spain. But there is an infinite difference in favor of 
American heroism, if it is judged by its ultimate value 
to civilization. 

No one can read of the matchless daring displayed 
in the Spanish conquest of America without being 
impressed with the conviction that the conquerors 
considered the subjugation of the natives of but little 
more importance than the extermination of each other 
in the constant feuds of rivalry. So' much was this 
true in Spanish South America that this territory was 
generally spoken of in Spain as "The Land of War," 

138 



THE LAND OF WAR 139 

If Pizarro had governed his conquests according to 
his experience with Vasco Nunez, discoverer of the 
Pacific Ocean, instead of after the manner of the vin- 
dictive Pedrarias Davilla, Governor of Golden Castile, 
there would probably have been no "land of war" to 
distract and exhaust the resources of Spain. 

That all the soldiers were not as devoted to such 
enterprises as their indomitable leader, may be inferred 
from some singular incidents. 

Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, and the 
licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa, who was represented in 
all the transactions by the priest Fernando de Luque, 
completed their compact for the conquest of the ter- 
ritory south of Panama, and took oaths of eternal 
friendship over the holy sacrament. The expedition 
was fitted out with enthusiastic fortune-hunters, and 
the coast supposed to contain the fabulous riches of 
which they had heard, was safely reached. As on a 
previous voyage which Pizarro had made southward, 
only swamps, desolate wildernesses, and pauperized 
inhabitants were to be found, but the sufferings on 
shipboard or land were forgotten at every contact with 
the natives, from the assurances they gave that it was 
only a little farther on to the land of countless gold. 
The Spaniards moved along the coast toward the 
golden paradise, and saw increasing evidences of a 
higher civilization, but such numbers of warriors 
thronged the shores that the handful of adventurers 
seemed ridiculously inadequate for any kind of cam- 
paign. At last it was decided that Almagro should 
return to Panama for reinforcements, while Pizarro 
remained with the soldiers at the Island of Gallo. 



I40 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

There was almost a mutiny at the prospect of being 
kept at that desolate place so long, and many furious 
letters were written home to friends. Almagro seized 
all of these and informed the men that no such letters 
would be delivered. However, the wit of a crowd of 
desperate men is not so easily foiled. Presents show- 
ing the richness of the country and intended to impress 
the people and ofHcials of Panama with the importance 
of the expedition, were taken back in abundance, and 
the soldiers succeeded in concealing in a ball of cotton, 
intended as a present especially pleasing to the Gov- 
ernor's wife, a letter setting forth their grievances in 
full and signed by them all. It concluded with the 
stanza : 

"Look out, Senor Governor, 

For the drover while he's near ; 
Since he goes home to get the sheep 
For the butcher, who stays here." 

The letter was uncovered at Panama, and it pro- 
duced a great sensation. The stanza was chanted all 
over Spain. It had such an efifect that the Governor 
would not listen to the golden promises of Almagro, 
but at once sent two ships to bring away the Span- 
iards at Gallo', who had meanwhile suffered dread- 
fully from the inability to procure food and because of 
the continuous storms. The vessels sent to take them 
home were hailed with rapturous shouts of joy, and 
the conquest of Peru was being balanced across the 
finger of fate. Pizarro at once asserted that decision 
of character which proves the great leader for g^eat 
achievements. 

He drew his sword and struck a line in the sand east 
















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W 
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Q 

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Q 

O 



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THE LAND OF WAR 143 

and west. "Friends and comrades !" he exclaimed, 
turning toward the south and standing on the northern 
side. "On that side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the 
drenching storm, desertion and death; on this side 
ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; 
here, Panama and its poverty. Choose each man what 
best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I cross 
to the south." 

Ruiz, the pilot, and Pedro de Candia, a native of 
Greece, unhesitatingly followed him, after which 
eleven others crossed the line. To remain alone on 
this desolate rock in the ocean, waiting for the doubt- 
ful reinforcements of Almagro, was heroism. With- 
out it, Pizarro's name would have been unknown and 
South America would have had a different history. 

After seven months the Governor sent a relief ves- 
sel, with barely enough men to sail it. It found the 
fourteen men on the Island of Gallo as resolute as ever, 
and instead of returning in the vessel, Pizarro put his 
men aboard and steered for the Peruvian coast. In 
the Gulf of Timbuez, a populous city was seen, and, 
as the brigantine approached, upward of ten thousand 
armed warriors lined the shore. Assurances of friend- 
ship having been established, Pizarro decided tO' send 
Pedro de Candia, the Greek, ashore for information. 
Dressed from head to foot in dazzling armor, and 
with a drawn sword, the athletic Greek stepped 
ashore and marched straight forward into the 
town. The people fled before him, and thronged the 
housetops, as if they were being visited by a demi-god. 

As he approached the entrance, a jaguar and a wolf 
from the pleasure garden of one of the nobles were 



144 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

turned loose upon him to test his supernatural quali- 
ties. The jaguar fled, but, according to the Spanish 
historians, the wolf lay down and suffered him to touch 
it with the cross, a proof of the miraculous efficacy 
of that instrument. Inside the town, in the midst of 
the wondering natives, he set up a board as a target 
and shivered it with a shot from his musket. The con- 
sternation and terror caused by this exhibition of 
power were very gratifying to the white man's sense 
of superiority, and Pedro de Candia felt a pride equal 
to the reverence and awe of the natives. 

When he returned to Pizarro, he had a wonderful 
story of temples lined with precious metal and mag- 
nificent gardens of artificial flowers and fruits done 
in gold. For this exploit the Greek knight and cav- 
alier was made, by the Spanish Emperor, master of 
the artillery. In the deadly feud that followed a few 
years later between Almagro' and Pizarro, in which 
Spaniards fought each other with more fury than they 
did the Incas, Candia was found on the side of Alma- 
gro, but with what willingness may be inferred from 
the fact that at the battle of Chupas, the Greek was 
struck down by the sword of Almagro's son for the 
alleged treason of firing his artillery over the heads of 
Pizarro's men. 

Coasting southward until indisputable evidence of 
the rich Inca Empire had been obtained, the vessel 
returned to Panama, and Pizarro went to Spain, to 
obtain the royal commission and the means to pur- 
sue the conquest. Early in 1530 he returned to 
Panama, bringing with him four brothers, equally 
ambitious and courageous. Most of the offices and 



THE LAND OF WAR 145 

powers were vested in himself, and from this arose the 
disputes between Almagro and Pizarro which at last 
resulted in their mutual destruction. Meanwhile it is 
hardly too much to say that their exploits rivaled any 
adventures known to romance or history. 

Almagro remained at Panama to procure and for- 
ward supplies, while Pizarro went on to Peru and set 
out on his search for the golden Inca. His entire force 
consisted only of one hundred and six infantry and 
sixty-two horsemen. With this insignificant force he 
crossed the Andes into the center of the great Indian 
Empire, and came to the camp of the Inca, where he 
was spending the winter with an army estimated at a 
hundred thousand men. Here he decided to effect 
the capture of the Inca, a feat more daring and des- 
perate by far than the peaceable seizure of Montezuma 
by Cortes. But there were audacity and courage 
enough in those two acts to place them among the 
chief wonders of history. 

It was on Saturday, November 16, 1532, when the 
Spaniards reached the summit of extraordinary 
exploits in America. Without molestation they had 
gone on through the passes of the Andes and emerged 
upon the plains of Caxamalca. As the Spaniards 
marched into this typical Peruvian city of adobe build- 
ings, not an inhabitant was to be seen, although the 
number of houses showed at least ten thousand popu- 
lation. About four miles away, beyond a swamp, 
across which ran a narrow causeway, could be seen the 
countless snow-white tents of the Inca's army. So far 
from any possibility of help, surrounded by mountains 
in whose passes a few Indians could prevent escape, 



146 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

in the presence of an innumerable host, which, with- 
out doubt, desired their destruction, every soldier lost 
hope. Francisco Pizarro' alone remained confident. 
In the wide halls of the houses opening upon the pub- 
lic square, he placed his horsemen in two divisions, one 
under his brother Hernando, and the other under 
De Soto, who was ultimately to become more famed 
for his discovery of the Mississippi River. Pedro de 
Candia, the Greek, was stationed conveniently in the 
fortress with his artillery, consisting of two small fal- 
conets. The foot soldiers were concealed in the near- 
est houses, ready to rush forth at a signal. 

In this manner, Pizarro prepared his men to receive 
a visit from the Inca, whose long train of attendants 
they had been watching as they marched in admirable 
military order over the causeway. It was nearly sun- 
set when the stately array filed into the great square, 
the Peruvian Emperor borne upon the shoulders of a 
score of men. He was arrayed in gorgeous livery, and 
sat upon a throne of solid gold. Six thousand war- 
riors entered the square, and not a Spaniard was to 
be seen by the natives until Father Valverde, a Domin- 
ican friar, came forward to the King, with a Bible in 
one and a crucifix held aloft in the other. The inter- 
preter was at hand, and the astonished Inca sat upon 
his golden throne, held aloft upon the shoulders of 
his attendants, and listened to a doctrinal sermon that 
covered all essential points of belief from the creation 
to the papal bull that gave Peru to the Spaniards. 
The priest then advised the King to turn at once to 
the Christian faith and submit to Pizarro, who was 



THE LAND OF WAR 147 

the authorized representative of the great Catholic 
monarch, Charles V. 

Enraged at such demands from the handful of 
strangers, Atahuallpa flung away the Bible which had 
been pressed upon him, and the priest, shocked at such 
irreverence, ran back into the nearest house, crying, 
"I absolve you. Set on at once." 

Pizarro waved a white scarf, a gun was fired from 
the fortress, and the cry, "Santiago and at them," 
rang from every side of the square as the Spaniards, 
horse and foot, rushed with gleaming swords upon 
the compact mass of bewildered Indians. The two 
falconets and the few muskets had a broad target, and 
the thunders of their reports, with the dense black 
smoke that rolled upward from them, made it appear 
to the natives as if heaven itself had joined in the 
slaughter. Not a Spaniard was wounded, and not a 
single stroke in defense was made by the terrified 
Peruvians. So great was the pressure of the mass 
against one of the great stone walls, covering the space 
between the houses, that it gave way for a hundred 
yards, and through this space multitudes were able to 
escape from the slaughter-pen into the open plain, 
where the horsemen cut them down as long as their 
arms had the strength to plunge their swords. It was 
long a bitter saying among the Peruvians that the 
great wall was less cruel on that day than the Span- 
iards. 

The longest fight was around the Inca, about whom 
his followers gathered and interposed their naked 
bodies, until it was long after dark before the royal 
litter could be overturned and the King captured. 



148 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Without doubt four or five thousand Indians were 
slain, this massacre being one of the foulest blots in 
all the dark history of Spain. 

Soon after Atahuallpa had agreed to ransom himself 
by filling his three prison-roo^ms full of gold and silver 
to the amount of sixteen or seventeen million dollars, 
Almagro, Pizarro's partner, arrived with a welcome 
reinforcement of one hundred and fifty men and fifty 
horsemen, who clamored to be led on to Cuzco, where 
stood the golden temple of the sun. The Inca was 
becoming a burden, although he had proven himself 
to be one of the most congenial and companionable 
of men. He learned to play at dice, and not only 
paid his lost bets, but always refused to receive any- 
thing in payment of the lost bets of others. No one 
ever attended him or did him a favor without receiv- 
ing some handsome reward. Two circumstances now 
appeared to hasten the end of the unfortunate King. 
Felipillo, the Tambuez Indian whom Pizarro had 
secured on his first voyage and educated as his inter- 
preter and secretary, fell in love with the Inca's favor- 
ite wife. Rumors began to come in through Felipillo 
of a powerful avenging army being raised at the insti- 
gation of Atahuallpa. De Soto was sent on a,n expe- 
dition of investigation, but before he returned such 
abundance of evidence was taken by the secretary 
from Peruvian nobles visiting the Inca, that it was 
decided to bring him at once to trial. It is said that 
Pizarro was not averse to such summary proceedings, 
from the fact that the Inca held him in great con- 
tempt. This contempt of Atahuallpa came about 
through a singular circumstance. One day he asked 



THE LAND OF WAR 149 

a soldier to write the name of the Christian God upon 
the royal thumb nail. This was done and the Inca 
exhibited it to numerous soldiers, all of whom, to his 
delight, pronounced the same word. But when it was 
shown to Pizarro he was silent. Neither Pizarro nor 
Almagro could read or write, and the Inca could not 
esteem the leader who was less informed than the fol- 
lower. The trial for treason was held, and the Peru- 
vian Emperor was condemned to be burned, but by 
acknowledging the Christian faith his sentence was 
commuted to that of being garroted. On the same 
night of the sentence, two hours after sunset, in the 
flare of torch lights, the judgment was carried into 
execution. A few days later De Soto returned with the 
information that he could not discover the remotest 
indications of an uprising; on the contrary, the natives 
seemed to be leaderless and utterly dazed. Not long 
after, Felipillo went with Almagro on an expedition 
to Chili, when he was unceremoniously hanged for a 
meddlesome intrigue. In confessing his sins tO' the 
priest, he said that he had manufactured the testimony 
on which the Inca was condemned. 

Most of the gold paid for the ransom of the Inca 
had come from Cuzco, where there was said to be 
many times as much still untouched, in the temple 
of the sun. Almagro's soldiers clamored for an oppor- 
tunity to share in those fabulous riches, and Pizarro 
accordingly set forth for the capital of the Incas. This 
city, with an estimated population of two hundred 
thousand inhabitants, was taken wdthout resistance, 
and not less than sixteen million dollars in gold 
secured as spoils. 



150 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Spaniards were then, as now, such inveterate 
gamblers that few of the soldiers could keep their gold 
longer than it could be gambled away. Leguizaiio, a 
horseman, was given the image of the sun as his share. 
It was a huge gold plate, bearing in the center a head, 
from which extended sun rays. The first night he 
gambled away this magnificent prize, the story of 
which became so famous in Spain as to pass into a 
proverb, "Play away the sun before sunrise." 

Leguizano was so disgusted that he left the army 
at the first opportunity and never touched a card 
again. Not long after he married an Inca princess and 
passed the rest of his life in trying to repress the rapa- 
city of the Spaniards. In 1589 he wrote a long letter 
to King Philip II, enumerating the griefs of the natives 
and the crimes of the Spaniards. When he died he 
wrote in his will, 'T pray God that he will pardon 
my grievous sins against the helpless people of Peru. 
I am about to die, the last of all the discoverers and 
conquerors. It is notorious that there are none sur- 
viving excepting me alone in all this country or out 
of it, and I now do all that remains to me to relieve 
my conscience." 

Each soldier received enough of the golden spoils 
to make him among the richest men in Spain, but 
every division of the princely treasures only increased 
his avarice and greed. Adventurous leaders with small 
bodies of troops ravaged the country in every direc- 
tion. One party under Sebastian Benalcazar set out 
for Quito, where, as the Spaniards were told, lay the 
greatest treasures of all Peru. Ruminagui, one of the 
Inca's generals, was Governor there. Plearing of 



THE LAND OF WAR 151 

the approach of the Spaniards, he gathered his troops 
together and met the enemy, in a desperate conflict, 
on the plains of Riobamba. He could not withstand 
the mailed horsemen, and, retreating into the city, he 
set it on fire. Meanwhile, his son Catuna had been 
busy day and night, removing the golden hordes of 
the temples to a place of hiding, after which the slaves 
who had carried the gold were killed. In escaping 
from the city as the Spaniards were entering, Catuna 
was climbing over a burning wall, when it fell upon 
him, and he was not only crippled for life, but fright- 
fully disfigured. Here he was found by Hernan 
Saurez, one of the Spanish captains, who took a great 
interest in the youthful chief and treated him with 
great kindness. In after years, Saurez met with mis- 
fortune and was thrown into prison for debt. Catuna 
visited him and asked him tO' promise that what he 
was about to say would always remain a secret, and 
that should any suspicion ever fall upon Catuna, the 
captain would be his protector against the avarice of 
the Spaniards. 

The promise was given, and the next morning 
Catuna smuggled into the hands of the Spaniard a 
golden pineapple, which liquidated the debts and lib- 
erated him from prison. Saurez had been noted for 
his extraordinary kindness and charity to the natives, 
and it was mainly through this generosity that he had 
lost his fortune and become involved in debt. Catuna 
had been a slave in the household of Saurez, but he 
now became his master's constant companion. Catuna 
asked him to put a smelting furnace in his cellar and 
to protect it from all intrusion. This was done, and 



i"52 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Catuna told his master to visit the place every morn- 
ing. He did so, and never failed to find an ingot of 
pure gold. Every cent thus obtained was spent to 
alleviate the miseries of the natives. When Saurez 
died, beloved by the Indians over all Peru, it was gen- 
erally believed among the Spaniards that Catuna, 
known as the Indian imp from his horrible disfigure- 
ment, had furnished his master with the gold through 
some dreadful practices of black magic. A trial was 
called, and Catuna boldly admitted that he had sold 
his soul to the devil in exchange for the secret of how 
to make gold. The judges demanded proof, and 
Catuna named the necessary "conditions. These were 
readily granted, and Catuna produced an ingot of pure 
gold. The judges put the precious metal to the test, 
and, finding it genuine, divided it between them. 
More proof was demanded, and so convincing was the 
golden argument that the judges pronounced him not 
guilty. He was tried before other judges, with the 
same effect, so that it was found that he could not be 
convicted by a single judge in all Peru. In conse- 
quence he became so feared that none dared to oppose 
him, and while he lived there was justice tO' the natives 
about Quito, as far as it could be obtained under 
Spanish law, or through the greed of the Spanish 
judges. 

It seems that the secret treasures of Quito were also 
known to a servant of Catuna's father, who, because 
of his known faithfulness, had not been slain with the 
slaves. When Catuna died this servant told the secret 
to his daughter, so that it might not be lost. Not long 
after her father's death, she fell in love with a Span- 




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O 

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THE LAND OF WAR 155 

iard, who would not marry her, because it would make 
him lose caste among his countrymen. To recom- 
pense him she offered to show him more gold than 
he could ever use if he would allow himself to be blind- 
folded in passing to and from the place of conceal- 
ment. He gave his promise, and, at the trysting place 
in the neighboring cliffs, she blindfolded him and led 
him a long distance through devious ways to a spot 
where she took the cloak from his head and bid him 
look. He was in a long, narrow cave, partially lighted 
from a rift in the rocks above. To his astonished gaze 
there was revealed the lost treasures of Quito. There 
were planks of solid gold too heavy for him to lift, 
images of the sun broader than he could span with 
his arms, llamas in full life size, which with all his 
strength he could not move, and many hundred 
pounds of massive ornaments. He sat entranced on 
a great throne of gold that had been the royal chair 
of state for the Incas, until the Indian girl reminded 
him that they must go. Loading himself with the 
precious metal, he started to leave the cave unblind- 
folded. She appealed to him for the love of her and 
the sacredness of his promise not to betray her thus. 
He had nearly reached the entrance with her clinging 
frantically to him and pleading with him to^ be true 
to her and to his word. With an oath he cast her aside 
and quickened his pace. But he had mistaken her 
devotion and courage. She sprang like a leopard 
before him with a dagger raised over his heart. He 
felt for his sword, but it was gone. Then he remem- 
bered that before entering the cave she had told him 
that it was sacrilegious for a soldier to enter armed 



156 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

into the holy place where they were going. In his 
eagerness to see gold, he had dropped his sword as 
she desired. He measured her lithe form in the dim 
light, saw the fierceness of her eyes, and knew that 
he dared not disobey. 

"Drop the gold," she cried, and he slowly let it fall. 
"Tie this cloak tightly over your head and move as I 
direct or this knife will cleave your heart." 

He obeyed, and she directed him forward. After a 
long distance had been traversed, he no longer heard 
her steps or her voice. He asked if he could take the 
cloak from his head, but there was no^ reply. Fearing 
to remove it, he walked on until some laughing com- 
rades came upon him and began to ply him unmerci- 
fully with jests. His grave face, silenced them, and 
he walked on alone to the town. He determined to 
find the Indian girl, and to that end spent several 
months in search, using every means at his command. 
At last he got a clew and trailed her into a distant part 
of the mountains. She refused to recognize him, and 
would not listen tO' his pleadings or promises. Then 
he had her arrested on the charge of concealing royal 
treasure from the King of Spain. She was put to the 
torture, but did not say a word or utter a cry. The 
next morning the torture was to be renewed, but 
when the officers went for the victim, she was dead. 
A bit of glass and a bloody throat told the story. 

The ease with which Cortes and Pizarro' overran 
Mexico and Peru is no more astonishing than the des- 
perate heroism with which the Indians fought after 
their awakening to^ the character of the Spaniards. 



THE LAND OF WAR 157 

There were many Bunker Hills and many a Thermop- 
ylae among them. 

The American colonies were rejoicing in the first 
h"iiits of their independence when the last of the Incas 
fought the last battle for the preservation of his race. 
This was Tupac Amaru, a handsome and stately man, 
who passed through the length and breadth of the 
ancient empire, laboring with admirable eloquence and 
courage to alleviate the miseries and mitigate the 
wrongs of his countrymen. Not the slightest impres- 
sion could he make upon the relentless masters, who 
exhausted the substance and lives of the people like 
vampires. He was a far-seeing man, and he satisfied 
his conscience by first using tO' the utmost all known 
means but that of force to save his race from judicial 
annihilation. He knew that the year 1780 was too 
late to achieve independence from his oppressors, but 
he believed himself able to secure by force what he 
could not get by reason. 

With consummate skill he organized an army of six 
thousand courageous soldiers out of the dispirited and 
ragged natives. Half of them were armed with guns 
and the remainder with pikes and slings. Two hard 
fought battles, one of them continuing through three 
days, then took place, in which Tupac Amaru was vic- 
torious over nearly an equal number of well-equipped 
Spaniards, having a full equipment of cavalry and artil- 
lery. He then issued an address to the Spanish nation, 
offering complete submission if he could be assured 
of certain reforms that would give his people some 
measure of justice. 

Antonio Areche, the visitador sent to quell the 



158 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

rebellion, replied that immediate and unconditional 
surrender was the only means whereby he could soften 
the torture which would be ultimately executed upon 
him and his followers. All available Spanish forces 
were rapidly concentrated, and a war of extermination 
followed. In a decisive battle the native army was 
almost destroyed, Tupac Amaru was captured, and 
the entire nation driven into the fastnesses of the 
mountains. The natives were hunted like wild beasts, 
but Spanish historians say that it cost the conquerors 
more than eighty thousand lives. 

On May 15, 1781, the last of the Incas was led into 
the great square of Cuzco, and to him was read the 
sentence which is the most fiendish known in the an- 
nals of human history. It ordered that his wife and 
eldest son, with all his kinsmen, even to the remotest 
relationship, should be slowly tortured to death before 
his eyes. Even the smallest details of the diabolical 
cruelty were minutely specified. This Satanic orgy 
was to end, with the concentration of all the cruelties, 
in the torture of the Inca. His property and that of 
all his kinsmen was to be confiscated, their houses 
burned, and all documents, papers and books or rec- 
ords referring in any way to the Incas or their empire 
were to be destroyed, that all knowledge of them 
might be wiped from the earth. The customs and 
manners of the people were henceforth unlawful, and 
any one so offending- the majesty of the law should be 
sent to the mines for life. The native language was 
forbidden, and it was unlawful for any one to speak 
or write of the Incas or of the former history of the 
Peruvians. 



THE LAND OF WAR i6i 

Almost to the hour, one hundred and seventeen 
years before Spain was compelled to relinquish her last 
grasp on the western hemisphere, this hideous judg- 
ment was literally executed upon the pitiable remnant 
of the Peruvian people. But inaccessible portions of 
the Andes contained independent bands that contin- 
ued the war of extermination until the Creoles became 
strong enough to drive Spain from South America. 

In view of the heroism and horror of the Spanish 
conquest, it is interesting to note what became of the 
conquerors. All of them perished miserably. De 
Soto died of a fever in the swamps of the Mississippi 
River. Diego de Alverado was poisoned at his home 
in Spain. Hernando Pizarro lay in a Castilian prison 
twenty years for having caused the execution of Diego 
de Almagro, who had been the partner of the elder 
Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. Almagro's son, who 
took up his father's cause, was defeated, captured, and 
executed by Vaca de Castro, who had been sent from 
Spain to settle the quarrels of the conquerors. Pedro 
de Alvarado, who had also been with Cortes through 
Mexico, was killed by the fall of his horse. Gonzalo 
Pizarro, who made himself master of all Peru and who 
could have made himself King, as he was implored to 
do by Carbajal, temporized with Spain until he was 
captured and beheaded. Carbajal, who had been one 
of the bravest generals in Spain and one of the great- 
est monsters in America, was drawn to execution in 
a basket tied to the tail of a mule. Valverde, the 
priest who gave the signal for the massacre of the fol- 
lowers of Atahuallpa by Pizarro at Caxamalca, was 
killed by the Puna Indians. And so they all perished 
miserably. 



i62 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

But the most pitiable end of them all was that of 
the great conqueror, Francisco Pizarro. He had left 
the followers of his vanquished partner, Almagro, who 
were known as the men of Chili, to be reduced to the 
utmost straits of poverty. Although they were scat- 
tered over the country, they were united by the undy- 
ing desire for vengeance against the men who had 
encompassed their overthrow. The bloody feuds that 
had made Peru and Chili known over the world as the 
land of war, still possessed them. At a time when 
Pizarro believed himself so secure in power that he 
could ignore the conspiracies of his enemies, nineteen 
men of Chili, sworn to secure the rights of Almagro's 
young son and restore their own fortunes, entered 
Pizarro's house about midday, with the unconcealed 
intention of taking his life. The old conqueror, not 
having time to buckle on his armor, bound a cloak 
around his arm and swung his sword with all the old- 
time vigor. 

"What ho!" he cried, "you traitors! Have you 
come to kill me in my own house?" 

Two of the conspirators fell under the blows of the 
sword, when the leader pushed one of his men upon 
the dangerous weapon, and, as it entered his body, 
the others sprang forward and brought the old man 
dying to the floor. "Jesu, have mercy!" he cried, 
making a cross on the floor with his bloody hand. As 
he stooped to kiss the sign, some one threw a heavy 
jar in his face, and thus died the conqueror of the 
Incas. So pitiable was his fate that, as Gomarra, the 
Spanish historian, says, "There was none even to say, 
'God forgive him.' " 



WHERE THE SPANIARD COULD NOT 
CONQUER 

A STORY OF DE SOTO. 

A remarkable similarity is found in the wretched 
fate of the great Spanish discoverers and the fruits of 
the misrule that followed the Spanish conquerors. 
The tracks of the English, French and Spanish explor- 
ers crossed several times in the New World, and in 
every instance the experience of the Spaniards with 
the Indians was unique. 

This was notably the case in the expedition that 
discovered the Mississippi River. The Spanish con- 
querors met a very different enemy in Florida than 
they had known in Mexico, Central or South 
America. Although the northern Indian was less ad- 
vanced in the arts claimed by civilization, yet the 
broad territory known as Florida, became a continual 
burying ground for all who attempted to enrich them- 
selves at the expense of the natives, distinguished as 
the North American Savages. 

In 1 52 1, eight years after Juan Ponce de Leon had 
discovered Florida, he returned to the coast on a con- 
quering expedition with three vessels. At the first 
landing, all of his men were killed excepting seven, 
who, though so badly injured, succeeded in reaching 
Cuba, where all died of their wounds. Seven rich men 
of San Domingo, a year or two later, went to Florida 

163 



i64 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

for slaves. They succeeded in inducing large num- 
bers of the natives to visit the ships, Vv'hen the Span- 
iards weighed anchor and sailed away. Only one of 
the ships reached Hispaniola, and that without a single 
Indian, as all had either committed suicide or delib- 
erately starved themselves to death. 

In 1524, Vasquez Lucas de Aillon undertook the 
role of conqueror. He succeeded in getting back to 
San Domingo with about one-tenth of his men, most 
of them afterward dying of their wounds. Five years 
later Pamphile de Narbeaz entered Florida with three 
hundred men. After hardships of the most incredible 
character, six survivors succeeded in reaching Mexico. 

But the most notable of all for picturesque incident 
was the romantic expedition of Hernando de Soto in 
1539. Not contented with the enormous fortune he 
had amassed in the conquest of Peru, he desired to 
become the Pizarro of North America. Emperor 
Charles V made De Soto Governor of Santiago, Cuba, 
and Governor-General of the territory to be con- 
quered. De Soto then fitted out the expedition at his 
own expense. He had married the daughter of Pedra- 
rias Davilla, who had been betrothed to Vasco Nunez 
de Balboa, and she sailed with him tO' his new mar- 
quisate. De Soto's wife was thus the granddaughter 
of the Marchioness of Moya, who was so long the inti- 
mate friend and companion of Queen Isabella, and the 
unfailing friend of Columbus. As they approached 
the harbor of Santiago, a typical incident occurred. 
A troop of horsemen camiC racing down to the shore, 
beckoning wildly and calling out "Starboard, star- 
board !" at the top of their voices. The ships turned 




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COULD NOT CONQUER 167 

as directed, and in a few minutes the horsemen began 
to beckon for them to turn in the opposite direction, 
calHng out as wildly as before, "Larboard, larboard !" 
The ships turned just in time to escape being dashed 
to pieces upon the rocks. As it was, De Soto's vessel 
sustained severe damage, and the passengers were so 
alarmed that they escaped to the shore in their small 
boats. It was then learned that the Governor of Santi- 
ago, in great alarm, believing the approaching fleet to 
be French corsairs, had sent the horsemen to the shore 
to decoy them into a channel of sunken rocks. This 
fear of French corsairs had been occasioned by a com- 
bat, very singular according to modem ideas of naval 
warfare, which had taken place ten days before in the 
harbor in full view of all the people. No more strik- 
ing contrast is possible in the history of sea fights 
than the ones that took place at Santiago de Cuba with 
the French in 1538 and with the Americans in 1898. 

Diego Perez, of Seville, was the owner of a goodly 
ship, with which he trafificed among the islands. He 
had just entered the harbor of Santiago for the first 
time, when a French rover made his appearance 
through the narrow channel into the open bay. The 
Spanish historian of that time says that he knew little 
of Diego Perez, but his conduct showed him tO' be of 
a valorous and noble soul. 

When the Spaniard recognized the presence of the 
Frenchman, he also recognized that under those cir- 
cumstances it was his duty to fight. Accordingly they 
came together and fought until nightfall. When they 
could no longer see to strike at each other, they agreed 
that no gentleman would fight with cannon, as there 



1 68 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

was neither courage nor honor in the use of such a 
weapon. Then they sent their compHments to each 
other with their most distinguished consideration, and 
made bountiful presents of fruits, wines and other deH- 
cacies. They agreed to fight only in the daytime, as 
became men of honor. Nevertheless, they kept sen- 
tinels posted to prevent any stratagem. At daybreak 
the fight was renewed and continued until each was 
exhausted with hunger. After refreshing themselves 
and complimenting each other on the valor of their 
men, they fought again until night. Then they visited 
each other, with many presents and with remedies for 
the wounded. 

Great crowds of frightened people sat on the shore 
and watched the progress of the battle, nearly every 
one having all the money he possessed wagered on the 
result. During the second night of the conflict, Perez 
wrote a letter to the people of Santiago, reminding 
them that he was fighting their battle. If he won, he 
would have the Frenchman's ship, which would be 
reward enough for his labor, but if he failed the 
Frenchman would have his ship and there would be 
no return for his loss, which was already considerable. 
He told them that it was worth a great deal to have 
the sea purged of such a formidable corsair, whom he 
was now trying to sink for their especial accommoda- 
tion. Lender such conditions he deemed it only fair 
that in case he lost his ship they should render to him 
or his heirs its value. In that case he was ready to 
triumph or die. But the people ridiculed his request, 
saying that as he had to fight or die any way, they 
could not see why they should be called upon tO' insure 



COULD NOT CONQUER 169 

him against losses that would be due to his own weak- 
ness or cowardice. Regardless of this ingratitude, 
Perez resolved to obey the dictates of honor and con- 
quer or die, that his nobleness of soul might not be 
called into question. But the Frenchman, seeing that 
he could not leave the harbor with honor, resolved also 
to conquer or die. Thus they fought several days, 
enemies as long as they could see to fight, and con- 
vivial friends at night. At last Perez noted that his 
enemy seemed to be weakening, and he challenged 
him, according to the rules of war, to begin the battle 
on the next day and to continue it until one of them 
should be overcome. The Frenchman agreed, as if 
delighted with the prospect of a speedy victory, and 
after an evening spent in great hilarity with the Span- 
iard, he departed to his ship, agreeing that one or the 
other should not live to see the coming night. 

When morning came the Frenchman was nowhere 
to be seen. The bay was sounded to see if he had 
sunk, but as no trace of the vessel could be found, it 
was conjectured that he might have sailed away in 
the night to secure help from companions that were 
probably not far distant. 

When the fleet of De Soto appeared, the people 
were sure that it was a French fleet come to sack the 
town, because the Frenchman had declared, when he 
heard that the ungrateful inhabitants would not agree 
to recompense Perez, that if he survived he would 
bring a fleet and destroy the town composed of such 
ungrateful wretches. The horsemen hurried to the 
shore as if to welcome their friends, thus hoping to lure 
the Frenchmen to their destruction upon the hidden 



lyo THRILLING ADVENTURES 

rocks. Happily, they discovered in time that it was 
their new Governor, 

So rejoiced were the people that, according to the 
historian, there was nothing in the town for a long 
time but sports, balls, feasts, and masquerades. In the 
meantime the natives, seeing so many Spanish soldiers 
coming into their unhappy country and realizing that 
nothing but the crudest slavery was before them, 
began to commit suicide in appalling numbers. The 
historian says that in one village fifty-six families made 
away with themselves in one week. 

At the end of May, 1539, De Soto landed in Tampa 
Bay with two hundred and fifty horses and an army 
of a thousand of the gayest and most buoyant Spanish 
cavaliers that ever entered the Indies. About six 
miles inland they came to the capital of the Indian 
chief Harriga. The historian says that he had a bitter 
hatred against the Spaniards because he had been de- 
prived of his nose and ears by Ponce de Leon, who 
had also given the chief's mother to the dogs. Har- 
riga sent the women and children to places of safety, 
and assembled his warriors for a desperate resistance 
to the invaders. 

After several severe skirmishes, the Spanish cavalry 
saw a small body of Indians advancing boldly toward 
them, with no appearance of hostility. Nevertheless, 
the horsemen charged furiously upon them, and all 
fled but one, who stood in the path with folded arms. 
The nearest horsemen were about to strike him down 
with their swords, when he threw up his hands and 
cried : "Brethren, I am a Christian. Slay me not, nor 
these good friends, to whom I owe my life." 



COULD NOT CONQUER 171 

The astonished cavalrymen lowered their swords 
and reined in their horses. The friendly Indians were 
recalled, all were taken up behind the cavalrymen, 
and brought into camp. There a curious story was 
told. 

Ten years before, one of the ships that had been left 
behind by Narvaez, while searching along the coast 
for him, saw some Indians on the shore waving a 
letter. However, the crew were so afraid of the natives 
that they would not approach the shore until hostages 
were sent to the ship. Four Indians then came aboard 
and four Spaniards were sent ashore. No sooner were 
the Spaniards in the hands of the savages than the 
Indian hostages sprang overboard and swam ashore. 
Then the four Spaniards on shore were taken before 
the chief who had suffered so grievously at the hands 
of Ponce de I>eon. The ship, in great alarm, sailed 
away, as it then contained hardly enough sailors to 
manage the vessel. 

All the tribe assembled to take part in the torture 
of the captives, and the four men were brought forth 
to run the gauntlet of clubs and stones. One was only 
a boy, scarcely eighteen years of age. When he was 
led into the ring, the wife and daughters of the chief 
begged for his life. They pointed out that he could 
only have been a child when the chief suffered his 
unprovoked injuries. In answer Harriga pointed to 
his disfigured face and to the charnel house that con- 
tained the bones of his mother. 

Here and there the Spaniards ran in the wide circle 
of howling savages, trying in vain to escape the deadly 
missiles. Presently Juan Ortis, the boy who had so 



172 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

engaged the interest of the chiefs family, fell, seriously 
wounded. Then the eldest daughter of the chief 
begged her father to give the young man to her as 
her slave. At last, when the people were considerably 
appeased by the amusement they had enjoyed in tor- 
turing the others to death, Harriga consented, and 
Juan Ortis was led away by the girl. But his troubles 
had only begun. Whenever there was any special 
gathering of the chief's friends, he entertained them 
with a special spectacle of tortures for the youth, until 
he would have killed himself except for the kindness 
and encouragement of the Indian maiden. At last she 
secured for him the post of guardian over the charnal 
house, where the dead were deposited. This onerous 
duty carried with it the injunction that if any of the 
bodies were disturbed by beast or man he should be 
burnt to death. One night he heard an animal at the 
body of a child that had been brought the previous 
day. He ran to the spot, but the body was gone. 
Realizing that a horrible death was certain to follow 
as a punishment for this neglect, he ran frantically into 
the woods, praying to his patron saint not to abandon 
him in this misfortune. Presently he heard a sound 
similar to that of a dog crunching a bone. Stealing 
forward in the shadows, he saw a gaunt timber wolf 
in a moonlit place, feeding upon the body. With a 
prayer to the Virgin, he launched his javelin, and then 
fell upon his face and prayed till morning. There he 
was discovered by the parents of the child, who had 
come to pay to its body the last rites. A few steps 
away they found the dead child, and by it the wolf 
transfixed with the spear. The whole village praised 



COULD NOT CONQUER 173 

his courage, and petitioned Harriga to mitigate his 
severity with the Spaniard. But the chief declared 
that the white man was a constant reminder of the 
injuries he had received at the hands of his cruel 
nation, and that at the next festival the hated slave 
should be tortured to^ death. 

Juan Ortis, now seeing nothing before him but a 
horrible death, decided to kill himself. As he was 
meditating one night in deep despair over the des- 
perate fate that had overtaken him, and was thinking 
mournfully of the terrible contrast between his present 
condition and the hopes he had when he sailed away 
from his people in Spain, he heard a light step behind 
him among the dead in the grewsome charnel house. 
The moon had just risen, and the shadows were so 
deep that he did not recognize the chief's daughter 
until she was at his side. 

"Listen to me," she said, softly, "and have the cour- 
age to do as I say. To-morrow night at this hour a 
man will tap three times on the rear wall. Follow 
him at a distance without a word, until you come to 
a bridge twelve miles away, and you will be safe." She 
further explained that the guide would then give him a 
talisman, which he should carry to Mucoso, a neigh- 
boring chieftain, who loved her,butwhowas an enemy 
of her father. The guide would show him the path 
which led to the capital of Mucoso, about twelve miles 
further on. As soon as he saw Mucoso^ he must give 
that chieftain the talisman and implore his protection 
from Harriga. No more could she do; for the rest 
he must trust to himself and his God. 

Ortis was so overcome at her kindness that he fell 



174 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

upon the ground and kissed her feet. At this demon- 
stration of gratitude, she left him, saying, "Do as I 
bid you, and travel only at night." 

Ortis feverishly awaited the hour that promised him 
escape. At the appointed time the signal knocks were 
heard, and he followed the guide, gliding northward 
silently through the forest till they came to the boun- 
dary bridge. Here the talisman, which was to insure 
the favor of Mucoso, was given him, and the way he 
was to follow pointed out. 

The following day he remained hidden, and the next 
morning he approached near the village of Mucoso. 
A crowd of Indians saw him and were about to kill 
him, when he showed them his talisman and called for 
their chief. He was then brought before Mucoso, who 
heard his story and received the gift. The chief was 
so pleased with the confidence of the princess who 
had sent the white slave to him, that he took Ortis 
into his own household and treated him as a brother. 

Harriga was furious at thus losing an opportunity 
to revenge himself for his injuries. He demanded the 
return of the white slave, but, regardless of many 
injuries inflicted in consequence upon his people by the 
angry Harriga, Mucoso never betrayed his trust. 
Hearing that a number of his countrymen had landed 
on the near coast, he set out at once to seek them. 

It was several days before Ortis could make himself 
understood in Spanish, as his ten years of captivity 
had almost deprived him of the use of his mother 
tongue. De Soto was greatly pleased, as it insured 
him an interpreter and a faithful adviser concerning 
the customs and habits of the Indians. Having gone 



COULD NOT CONQUER 175 

naked so many years, it took a month of painful usage 
before he could endure to wear the suit of black velvet 
given him by De Soto. 

The story of the wanderings of the explorers from 
the time they left Tampa Bay until the miserable rem- 
nant of less than one-third arrived in Mexico, is inter- 
esting chiefly to the historical student, excepting for 
a few typical incidents and remarkable adventures. 
The man who had been so conspicuous with Pizarro 
in the conquest of Peru, found that his experience and 
fortune were unavailing against the unexpected cour- 
age, power, and patriotism of the unconquerable 
North Americans. The rich and enlightened natives 
of Mexico and Peru, however great their numbers or 
however bold their stand, became panic-stricken at the 
first sound of guns and the charge of the cavalry, but 
the North Americans stood their ground and launched 
arrows that pierced bucklers and mail with the power 
of bullets. Frequently they fought until the last man 
had been cut down by the sword, a weapon against 
which they had no defense. The Spaniards could 
never have overcome them nor governed them. It 
took a hardier and more judicial race to dispossess the 
North Americans of their homes and lands. 

From the time the Spaniards landed at Tampa until 
they left the mouth of the Mississippi, in their frail 
boats, they were incessantly harassed by the furious 
and implacable natives. The Spanish historians relate 
with amazement many instances of unaccountable 
defiance and courage. 

In one instance, while in Alabama, some advanced 
cavalry came upon a half dozen Indian hunters. 



17^ THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Although these natives had never before seen white 
men or horses, they drew a hne across the path and 
made sign to inform the intruders that if they dared 
to cross the Hne they were dead men. Astounded at 
such remarkable audacity, they dashed across the line 
and put the barbarians to the sword, but not until half 
of the men were seriously wounded and two of them 
dead. One Spaniard was pinned to his frantic animal 
with an arrow which passed through his thigh, pierced 
the saddle, and entered six inches into the side of the 
horse. Two of the horses had been killed with arrows 
driven entirely through their bodies. 

After the battle with the Tula Indians, four ol the 
foot-soldiers and two horsemen came upon an Indian 
hiding in a clump of bushes. The horsemen immedi- 
ately rushed upon him with their swords. The savage 
did not await their attack, but sprang at them with an 
axe which he had captured in the late battle. His 
first stroke broke the descending sword, crashed 
through the buckler, and almost severed the horse- 
man's arm. Whirling about, he sunk the axe into the 
shoulder of the other horse with such force that the 
animal fell, throwing his rider forward, stunned, upon 
the ground. One of the foot-soldiers aimed a blow at 
the savage, but the axe met the descending sword and 
crushed the buckler against the man's shoulder so 
heavily that he was knocked breathless to the ground. 
The next nearest soldier was an expert swordsman, 
and as the Indian turned upon him the Spaniard deliv- 
ered a blow with his sword which severed the red 
man's right arm, and the axe fell to the ground. The 
Indian then leaped upon his foe, trying to grasp the 




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COULD NOT CONQUER 179 

Spaniard's throat with his left hand, but the swords- 
man skillfully interposed his shield and nearly severed 
the body of his naked enemy with a downward blow of 
his keen-edged weapon. 

The examples of individual heroism which the 
Spaniards so frequently met were, as they found to 
their sorrow, common to entire tribes, so that the won- 
der is that any of De Soto's men ever lived to tell the 
story. In the province of Vitachuco, ruled over by 
three brothers, the Spaniards met the most determined 
and systematic resistance. Vitachuco, the eldest 
brother, governed half the province. The younger 
brother warned Vitachuco that the Spaniards were 
the children of heaven, and therefore invincible. The 
elder brother replied that men who carried off women, 
plundered property, and lived upon the labor of others 
were traitors, robbers and murderers, who were more 
likely children of the devil. He reminded his brothers 
that having made themselves slaves of the invaders, 
he did not expect anything else of them than that they 
would praise their masters. He also admonished his 
brothers that men of merit and valor did not leave their 
own country to become brigands in other lands, make 
slaves of free-born men, and incur the undying hatred 
of those who were as brave and honorable as them- 
selves. 

The two brothers yielded, however, to the blandish- 
ments ol the Spaniards, and Vitachuco found it neces- 
sary, in order to prepare a plan to overwhelm the 
invaders, that he should appear to do likewise. He 
sumptuously entertained the army in his capital four 
days, in the meantime assembling secretly ten thou- 



i8o THRILLING ADVENTURES 

sand of his subjects, who hid their weapons in the 
neighboring forest and entered the town bearing wood 
and provisions under the pretext of serving the Span- 
iards. With great skill he planned to invite De Soto 
and his men to witness a review of his subjects on an 
adjoining plain, at which the commander was to be 
seized upon a given signal, and the Indians were to 
draw their concealed weapons from their cloaks and 
annihilate the invaders. Doubtless the plan would 
have succeeded if it had not been necessary for Vita- 
chuco to take into his confidence two or three of the 
interpreters who, in the hope of greater reward from 
the Spaniards, revealed the plot to Juan Ortis. He 
at once told De Soto and a plan was made to give 
the savages a lasting lesson. 

Twelve Spaniards placed themselves in such a posi- 
tion that at a sign from De Soto they could seize the 
chief. The cavalry followed near and the infantry, in 
full readiness, marched on either side. Ten thousand 
Indians, apparently unarmed, were drawn up for the 
proposed review, in the form of a crescent upon the 
plain. The infantry and cavalry came rapidly into 
position for a charge before the Indians could realize 
the intention. Suddenly a musket was fired and 
before the Indians could draw their bows the cavalry 
was upon them with murderous sword-thrusts which 
found ready mark in the unprotected bodies. The 
infantry charged with a volley from their muskets and 
then rushed into a hand-to-hand conflict with their 
swords. Vitachuco, though taken in complete sur- 
prise, fought like a snared tiger, killing two men 
before he could be bound. His followers fought not 



COULD NOT CONQUER i8i 

less furiously, but their bows were of little service in 
such a close conflict with the Spaniards' weapons. 
No valor could withstand so unequal a struggle and 
they fled before their relentless pursuers. Nine hun- 
dred of them,, cut ofT from escape, threw themselves 
into a little lake near by to avoid the deadly blows of 
the swords. The Spaniards, returning from the 
slaughter of flying Indians, surrounded the little lake 
and kept the swimmers out in deep water by shooting 
those who came near the shore. This continued from 
ten o'clock in the morning, but the desperate swim- 
mers were not idle. Garcilasso, the historian of the 
expedition, says that three or four would swim abreast 
and another elevating himself upon their backs would 
send an arrow with such unerring aim and force that 
a soldier was almost invariably wounded or killed. 

At night huge bonfires were built around the water 
and it was closely infested with watchmen, who shot 
all who attempted to escape. It was a perilous task, 
since numbers of the Indians swam near the shore in 
the shadows and then dived to the water's edge, when 
they would leap out, strike down the nearest man with 
their bows as clubs, and then endeavor to escape in 
the darkness of the woods. Few succeeded, how- 
ever, as the bloodhounds usually brought down those 
the Spaniards failed tO' kill. When morning came 
such promises were made to the exhausted survivors 
that about two hundred surrendered. The others con- 
tinued in the water until they had been swimming 
more than twenty-four hours, when all came ashore 
but seven young chiefs who' could not be persuaded to 
surrender. At last, when it was seen that they were 



1 82 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

about tO' drown from exhaustion, twelve strong- swim- 
mers went in and brought them out unconscious., 
dragging them by the hair of the head. It was found 
that they were young chiefs, none of who^m were over 
eighteen years of age. 

Every Spaniard now had a slave and it was believed 
that the hostile tribe was so nearly destroyed that it 
would be the part of wisdom tO' offer Vitachuco his 
freedom on condition that he make peace with his 
captors. But the savage defied them, saying that he 
preferred death to their friendship. Nevertheless he 
was treated as a distinguished captive, and four of his 
domestics were detailed to wait upon him. Resolved 
not to live in captivity or slavery to the white men, he 
secretly sent word to all the captives that at a certain 
time while eating at the table with De Soto he would 
attempt to kill him, and that all who preferred death 
to slavery should, when his voice was heard, follow his 
example and attempt to kill their masters. 

This time there was none to betray him. Seven 
days after his capture, as the chief and. De Soto had 
just finished their morning meal, the Indian arose 
and bent his body backward, stretched out his arms 
and clenched his fists, beat his chest with such blows 
that the sounds could be heard half across the camp, 
uttered a bellow Hke a wild bull, and then leaped sud- 
denly upon De Soto, bearing him instantly to the 
floor. The officers present sprang tO' the assistance 
of their commander, and sheathed a dozen swords in 
the back of the chief, but before this could be done 
De Soto had been struck so fiercely with the bare 



COULD NOT CONQUER 183 

fists of the Indian that he was unconscious for half an 
hour. Blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears, 
several teeth were broken, and it was twenty days 
before he could take the bandages from his face. 

At the sound of the chief's voice, every slave with- 
out exception sprang upon his master. As few of 
them had any better weapon than their bare hands 
only four white men were killed, but all were sorely 
wounded before they could draw their swords and kill 
their assailants. In half an hour nearly a thousand 
Indian captives perished thus rather than to serve 
their captors. 

After De Soto's death and his burial in the Missis- 
sippi, not far below Memphis, the survivors deter- 
mined to make their way to Mexico. During a 
winter's work enough boats were constructed to^ hold 
them all and they embarked down the river which 
De Soto had named the Chucagua. 

Scarcely had they set sail when the natives, who 
had never ceased to harass them while on land, now 
appeared, following them in boats as large and well 
manned as their own. The enemy's fleet continued 
to augment until there were more than a thousand 
boats. Although the Indians ventured no pitched 
battles, yet they made the night hideous with their 
songs and shouts, while the day never ended without 
the death of one or more Spaniards by the deadly 
arrows that almost constantly fell upon them. All 
the way down the long course of the lower Mississippi 
this dreadful pursuit continued until the Gulf was 
reached. Then with songs of joy and shouts of 



1 84 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

triumph for having driven away the pale-faced 
invaders, the pursuers turned back to their homes sev- 
eral hundred miles away, and the remnants of a proud 
Castilian army of invasion and conquest followed the 
shore for many weary weeks until they reached the 
settlements in Mexico — a pitiable crowd of spiritless 
beggars. 



ADVENTURES IN SEARCH OF EL 
DORADO. 

The sensation produced during the present genera- 
tion by the discoveries of gold has caused vast num- 
bers of fortune hunters to carry civiHzation to distant 
portions of the earth, which it would have taken ages 
to have peopled otherwise. These gold seekers came 
from among busy and prosperous communities. 
With such a condition in mind, it is easier to form a 
correct idea of the eagerness with which a nation of 
needy idlers just released from the excitements of war, 
would rush to the New World, which afforded unlim- 
ited opportunity for romantic adventures, and where 
incomparable riches were to be obtained in a day by 
the capture of temples, towns, Montezumas, and 
Incas. Within fifty years from the first voyage of 
Columbus, Spain had overrun the whole of the West- 
ern Hemisphere south of the latitude of Northern 
Texas. The age of Argonauts, Phoenicians, and Her- 
cules had suddenly returned to the Spanish nation. 
The most fabulous stories were readily believed, for 
fabulous things had actually been accomplished. 
Those whose imaginations were especially susceptible 
to the romantic, found a wide and fertile field in 
adventurous searches for the amazons and El Dorado. 
Both were largely mythical, but the belief in them was 
universal through two centuries, and they led to 

^85 



i86 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

adventures unparalleled by such as Don Quixote or 
the heroes of the Grecian epics. 

The currently accepted story was that a younger 
brother of Atabalipa had fled across the Andes, after 
the destruction of the Incas, with incalculable treas- 
ures, and founded a great empire. This Emperor was 
variously known as the Great Paytiti,the Great Moxo, 
the Great Enim, and the Great Paru. 

Pedro Ortez of Lima was lost on one of the expedi- 
tions into the mountains to the east of Cuzco and after 
a year reappeared with the sensational story that he 
had been captured and taken to Manoa, the capital 
city of the golden Emperor. During the latter part 
of the journey he had been kept blindfolded, and after 
his escape he had wandered about lost in the forests 
so long that he had no idea how to return. The only 
relic he had been able to retain was a map of the 
city. 

The wonderful capital was situated on three hills, 
one of which was of gold, another of silver, and the 
other of salt. The Emperor's palace was supported 
by columns of porphyry and alabaster, and the gal- 
leries were of ebony and cedar. His throne was of 
ivory and the steps to it were of gold. Every detail 
was carefully marked out on a piece of white cloth by 
Ortez. He led an expedition in search of the city, 
but was unable to find it. 

The historian Martin del Barco found a chief who 
had been on a friendly visit to Manoa, but would not 
betray its location. From this chief, Barco learned 
that the palace of the golden chieftain was made of 
marble. Its temple contained two towers twenty- 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 187 

five feet high, holding between them at the top a great 
silver moon. At the base were twO' monster silver 
lions secured by heavy gold chains. The immense 
gates of the palace were made of copper. In the 
temple was a sun of gold covering the entire eastern 
end. Here were kept in sacred seclusion the hundred 
virgins of the sun who, each morning at sunrise, 
anointed the Emperor with a fragrant gum of great 
price and blew gold dust on him through reeds until 
he was thoroughly gilded from head to foot. This 
was all removed in his bath after he had partaken of 
his breakfast. From this custom he received the 
name of El Hombre Dorado, meaning the gilded 
man. 

In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a book entitled 
"The Great and Golden City of Manoa, which the 
Spaniards call El Dorado." This he afterward 
extended by a history of the Lake of Parima. 

Nothing was listened to in Europe or America with 
such avidity as stories of El Dorado. Southey in his 
history ol Brazil makes the statement that the Spanish 
expeditions in search of El Dorado cost Spain more 
treasure than was ever received from all her American 
possessions. Among the most noted of these elabo- 
rate expeditions was one led by Balalcazar from 
Quito, another by Federmann from Venezuela, and 
another by Quesada along the way of the Rio Mada- 
lena. Orellana, whose name was for a long time 
given to the Amazon River, was one of the most per- 
sistent hunters for El Dorado, but like the searches of 
Diego Ordace, Berreo, and Martynes, a life was spent 
with no worthy results. 



i88 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Curiously enough, the first extensive attempt to find 
El Doradoi was set on foot by some rich merchants of 
Augsburg, Germany. Ambrosio de Alfinger, of Ulm 
in Suabia, was German agent at the Spanish capital 
for the Welser family and mercantile company. He 
secured a lease of Venezuela, then comprising the 
greater part of Northern South America. Within 
a year after the marvelous ransom in 1533, of Ata- 
huallpa, Inca of Peru, the exploits of Cortes and 
Pizarro had penetrated, in the most brilliant and 
romantic colors, even to the lowest peasantry of the 
Old World, and Europe was wild with the gold fever. 
In the center of the gorgeous picture of the popular 
imagination, sat the gilded chieftain on a. throne of 
gold, surrounded by golden treasures of incomparable 
and boundless value. 

In 1529, Alfinger set out from Coro with 200 men, 
and 1,000 slaves, loaded with provisions like pack 
mules. The methods of Cortes and Pizarro were mild 
and humane in comparison with his treatment of the 
natives. Slaughter and torture were both diversion 
and business in the extraction of gold. When about 
thirty thousand dollars' worth had been secured, fifty 
men with a hundred slaves were ordered to return 
with it to Coro. The dense forests, vine-entangled 
undergrowth, and insect-infested swamps, impeded 
their progress and one by one the slaves sank beneath 
their burdens of gold until the Spaniards found them- 
selves the bearers of the precious cargo. Presently 
there were frequent accidents by which the golden 
loads were lost in the swamps, and by the end of a 
month there were neither slaves nor burdens and the 




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SEARCH OF EL DORADO igt 

fifty men had been reduced to less than a score by 
fever and famine. Three men, naked and dying, 
reached Coro. A year later, Alfinger returned with 
a ragged handful of his men and about two hundred 
slaves bearing about forty thousand dollars' worth of 
gold. 

On April 5, 1536, when the whole of Spain was 
burning with the fever excited by the marvelous treas- 
ures of Peru, Georg von Speyer, the German Gov- 
ernor of Venezuela, gathered a force of about fifteen 
hundred men, determined to find El Dorado and his 
temples of untold gold. Half of this command was 
intrusted to the Governor's lieutenant, a young licen- 
tiate, Gonzalo Ximenez de Quesada of Granada, who, 
from the extensiveness of his conquests, became 
known as El Conquistador. He was the Cortes and 
Pizarro of Northern South America without their 
excessive cruelty. Early in 1537 he reached the 
plains of Cundinamarca with 166 men, having lost 
nearly six hundred through hunger and hardship. 
Here was the home of El Dorado, such as it was out- 
side of the myths. 

According to Pedro Simon, the Jesuit historian of 
that time, and another careful investigator, Piedrahita, 
bishop of Panama, the gilded man ceased to exist two 
years before the discovery of America, but his fame 
continued among the natives all over South America. 
They told the story wherever they met Spaniards, 
whose excitable imaginations at once connected him 
with the lost treasures of the Incas. D'Acosta 
explained the legend as follows : "When the chief of 
Guatavita was independent, he made a solemn sacrifice 



19^ THRILLING ADVENTURES 

every year, which, for its singularity, contributed to 
give celebrity to the lake Guatavita. On the day 
appointed the chief smeared his body with turpentine, 
and then rolled in gold dust. Thus gilded and 
resplendent, he entered a canoe, surrounded by his 
nobles, whilst an immense multitude of people, with 
music and songs, crowded around the shores of the 
lake. Having reached the center, the chief deposited 
his offerings of gold, emeralds, and other precious 
things, and then jumped in to bathe. At this moment 
the surrounding hills echoed with the applause of the 
people; and, when the religious ceremony concluded, 
the dancing, singing and drinking began." 

In 1590, the Muysca Indians of Bogota made war 
on the tribe of the gilded man and almost destroyed 
them, thus putting an end to the ceremonies of El 
Dorado. 

When the Spaniards suddenly appeared before the 
first village of the Muysca Indians on the plains of 
Cundinamarca, the natives fled in terror from what 
they believed to be man-eating monsters, and fortified 
themselves in a ravine near Zorocota. After trying 
in vain to dislodge them from their stronghold, Ques- 
ada returned discouraged to his camp. As the hun- 
gry Spaniards were eating the food they had captured, 
two horses broke loose and ran snorting and chasing 
each other toward the Indian warriors. Believing 
that the strange beasts had been let loose upon them 
to devour them, they fled to the highest points of the 
overhanging rocks. At the ravine the Spaniards 
found an old man bound to a stake. A red cap was 
placed on his head and he was set free. Supposing 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 193 

that the man had been returned because he was con- 
sidered too old for food, the natives cast several chil- 
dren over the rocks into the camp. As the Spaniards 
pityingly buried the unfortunate infants, the Indians 
then sent into camp by some slaves, two young 
women and a live stag. The strangers showed their 
appreciation by eating the stag and returning the 
women loaded with presents that appeared very costly 
to them. Thus reassured, the natives visited the 
Spanish camp and entered into a friendly alliance. 

At Guatavita, the home of the Dorado, Quesada 
met the fiercest resistance. When they were at last 
conquered not an ounce of gold could be found. It 
was said that the inestimable treasures had been 
thrown into the lake. Some years later the lake was 
dragged to see if the lost treasures could be recovered, 
but the bottom was so soft and the water so deep that 
only a few insignificant ornaments could be found. 
In the lagoon of Siecha, a group of ten golden figures 
was recovered representing the gilded chieftain on a 
raft. 

Quesada secured his first considerable treasure at 
the chief remaining village of the Tunja Indians, who 
had formerly been subjects of El Dorado. When the 
booty was heaped in the courtyard it made a pile so 
high that a horse and rider could be hidden behind it. 

"Peru! Peru!" cried the deHghted victors. "We 
have found a second Cassamalca and Cuzco." 

The temple of Iraca promised a still greater amount, 
but while it was being despoiled the building caught 
fire and was consumed with all its great store of gold, 
silver, and emeralds. Notwithstanding all the losses. 



194 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

the treasure secured amounted tO' about three hun- 
dred thousand dollars in gold, half as much more in 
silver and at least a quarter million in emeralds. 

Near the Spanish headquarters, Quesada founded, 
in 1538, the present city of Bogota, now the capital 
of the United States of Colombia. In 1540, a brother 
of the conqueror tried to drain Guatavita, the lake of 
El Dorado', but he succeeded only partially, recover- 
ing in all about five thousand dollars for his trouble. 

But no one had yet seen the gilded chieftain and 
his countless treasures: The interest in him was 
therefore unabated and every story of captured treas- 
ures only heated the imagination of the fortune hunt- 
ers and adventurers all the more. 

In 1 541 the Welsers sent Philip von Hutten, a 
knight of Wurtemburg, with a hundred horsemen 
along the trail of Quesada. They became lost and 
for two years wandered about the wilderness, at last 
coming back to the place where they had lost the 
trail. Having collected among the natives satisfac- 
tory evidence that the gold lands were to the east, he 
set out in that direction with forty horsemen. In a 
few days they came to fields cultivated by slaves and 
then to a bowl-shaped valley, in the center of which 
was a town larger and more substantially built than 
any they had yet seen in South America. It was built 
regularly around a great public square, in which stood 
a temple towering high above the others. The 
smooth walls of yellow clay glistened in the declining 
sun and the excited imagination of both Spaniards 
and Germans saw before them the long-sought city of 
El Dorado. As they talked a,mong themselves, they 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 195 

grew more and more sure that before them was a city 
built of gold in which there were greater spoils for the 
mere taking than had ever been seen in all the careers 
of Cortes and Pizarro. 

Carefully adjusting their armor, and looking to 
their weapons, they fell into line and charged down 
the hill at full speed. What the natives thought when 
they beheld the apparition of flying steeds may not be 
known, but the war drums sounded and warriors 
swarmed into the streets and fearlessly met the fright- 
ful and unknown foe just outside the town. At the 
place of meeting the ground was cut with gullies and 
piled with rocks. The savages had the advantage and 
with the greatest difficulty Von Hutten succeeded 
in escaping to a battleground favorable to horsemen. 
Darkness had come on with the suddenness common 
to such latitudes and the Omaguas, as this famous 
tribe was called, left the field for the night. Fray 
Pedro Simon says that the next morning fifteen thou- 
sand or more Indians appeared ready for the battle. 
Having in mind the valiant examples of the conquer- 
ors in Mexico and Peru, the horsemen charged com- 
pactly into the mass of savages. But the Omaguas 
were a different people. They fought with caution 
and courage. The confident onslaught was turned 
into a struggle for life. Nearly half of the men had 
been torn from their horses and slain before the 
remainder succeeded in cutting their way out of the 
host of warriors and escaping. The fame of the 
Omaguas spread and the whole gold-seeking world 
became convinced that their capital city was the home 
of the Dorado with all his fabulous treasures. It 



196 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

therefore became the object of many expeditions, but 
its distance from the coast and the fierceness of its 
warriors protected it successfully from European 
greed and invested it with all the colors of the wildest 
romance. 

Two hundred years later, the Omaguas were visited 
by La Condamine, and he found a flourishing and 
home-loving people. Yet another hundred years and 
Lieutenant Herndon found them, in 1852, with the 
same virtues, but consisting all told of only 232 per- 
sons. 

When the Spaniards of Peru heard the story of the 
golden capital of the Omaguas, it fitted so well the 
stories current among the Peruvians of the lost treas- 
ures of the Incas that the fever for conquest again 
seized the followers of Almagro and Pizarro, who had 
been so long engaged chiefly in slaying each other in 
their bloody feuds. 

In 1555, when the Marquis of Canete, a scion of the 
noble house of Mendoza, was appointed viceroy of 
Peru, he broke the destructive domestic conflict by 
sending the leaders away on adventurous expeditions 
in search of the Dorado and the golden capital of the 
Omaguas. It was the universal testimony of the 
Peruvians that after the capture of the Inca Atahuallpa 
at Cassamalca by Pizarro, forty thousand of the nobil- 
ity assembled vast stores of their most precious and 
costly treasures, which they carried across the Andes 
east of Cuzco, where they founded a golden city in 
the midst of the great forests, inaccessible to horse- 
men. 

Juan Alvarez Maldonado, one of the most turbulent 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 199 

of the Almagro faction, was given the special task to 
discover and despoil that city. Gomez de Tordoya, 
one of the partisans of the Pizarros, heard of this and 
hastily fitted out a rival expedition, intending to get 
to the scene of the spoils before Maldonado. There 
was a rush between the two packs of Spanish wolves 
to see which could first reach the golden spoils. 
Tordoya reached the shores of the Tono River first, 
but was soon overtaken by Maldonado. They fell 
upon one another and fought for three days, when, 
with nearly half killed on each side, Tordoya's men 
surrendered. Meantime great numbers of the 
Chunchos Indians had been gathering and they 
watched the singular conflict with unabated delight. 
At its conclusion, they fell upon the exhausted sur- 
vivors and killed all but Maldonado, who saved him- 
self by hiding in a hollow log. He was an enormously 
fat man, but his energy and endurance was such that 
he succeeded in escaping back across the Andes to 
Cuzco, 

Where gold was the lure, no disaster was sufficient 
to dampen the ardor and enthusiasm of the Spaniard. 
Pedro Hernandez de Serpa landed at Cuma with one 
of the largest forces that had ever sought to penetrate 
to the golden city, but not a man ever returned from 
the great forests which they entered with boundless 
enthusiasm. In March, 1570, Don Pedro de Silvia 
left Burburuta with the purpose of finding the Dor- 
ado. He crossed the Llonos and arrived in Peru with 
less than a fourth of his men, and still the fame of the 
spoils of El Dorado and the golden capital of the 
Omaguas increased with every failure. Gonzalo 



200 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Pizarro, brother of the great conqueror, sought to 
retrieve his falHng fortunes by crossing the Andes in 
search ol El Dorado, and all the great geographers of 
that time gave a definite location tO' the mythical city 
of Manoa on the mythical great White Sea. Even 
as late as 1844 Van, Heuvel, a native of New York 
City, traveling in Guiana, wrote a book in the full 
belief that there was a veritable Dorado living in the 
golden city of Manoa on the Mar Blanco. 

For three centuries the whole of South America was 
filled with the most wonderful stories of these golden 
places and the most remarkable experiences and 
adventures were continually occurring in the fruitless 
searches for them. 

Don Enrique Rubio was one of the first to claim the 
glory of having seen the Dorado' in his temple in the 
singular city of Manoa on the Mar Blanco. On one 
of the expeditions, three Omagua chiefs were treach- 
erously taken prisoners at a council to which they had 
been invited. On the following day they were to be 
tortured to death, as many hundreds of Indians had 
been before them, with the purpose of forcing them to 
reveal the location of their golden city. Rubio con- 
ceived the idea ol playing a role for his own profit and 
glory. He made himself appear to be the friend of 
the chiefs, that he greatly deplored the treachery that 
had been practiced upon them, and that he would 
liberate them if he could find the opportunity. He 
possessed sufficient knowledge of the Indian lan- 
guages to make himself understood, and by shielding 
them from indignities he gained their confidence. 
When morning came it was discovered that Rubio 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 201 

and the three chiefs had disappeared. A year passed 
and Rubio returned to Cuzco with a story of having 
visited El Dorado, which was the basis for many of 
the remarkable romances that spread over Spanish 
America. 

In 1 53 1, Diego de Ordas was sent eastward on an 
expedition in search of El Dorado and he got as far 
as the mouth of the Caroni on the Orinoco, when all 
his powder was destroyed while being dried in the 
sun. This was said to have been caused by the negli- 
gence of Juan Martinez, the munitioneer. He was 
accordingly tried and sentenced to death, but the 
intercession of his comrades caused Ordas to alter the 
punishment to that of being placed in a canoe without 
oars or food and set adrift in the Orinoco. 

Nearly two years later some Indians brought a 
white man to the Island of Margarita, who was wasted 
almost to a skeleton by starvation, naked, except for 
untanned skins tied about his feet and loins, and so 
crazed that he did not know his name. A ship was 
about to leave for Porto Rico and the captain carried 
the unfortunate man to San Juan, where he was cared 
for in a convent of Dominican friars. He talked 
incessantly, though incoherently, of the golden shores 
of the Mar Blanco, and of the golden temples of 
Manoa. Although his wasted system could not 
recuperate, his mind was restored to health under the 
attentive care of the fathers. So far he had never 
allowed the skin that was bound about his loins to be 
touched by any one. He now took it ofif and gave it 
to the friars, who found that it contained several 
pounds of gold that looked like very coarse sand. On 



202 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

being questioned, he told a remarkable story of the 
experience that had brought him to such a state. 

He was Juan Martinez, who had been set adrift by 
Diego de Ordas. The terror of the awful solitudes 
had been harder to bear than his suffering for food. 
The monsters of the swamps had followed him by day 
and the fierce animals of the dark woods had tried to 
make him their prey at night. In this state he took 
a fever and lay down in the bottom of his boat to die. 
How long he floated that way he could not tell, for 
he first came to consciousness by hearing voices of men 
near him. They touched him and spoke to him as 
with great curiosity, since he was the first white man 
they had ever seen. When he tried to walk and could 
not they carried him with great tenderness upon their 
backs. Presently they blindfolded him and carried 
him thus fourteen days. At last he heard many voices 
about him from men, women, and children. The 
blindfold was taken off and he saw around him the 
houses of a great city. Over the portals of every door 
were images of gold, and soon they came to a clear 
lake more than a league across, around whose shores 
he could see temples and palaces supported on rows 
of great golden pillars. Seeing the remarkable bril- 
liancy of the sand along the shore, he asked to be set 
down a moment, when he scooped up a handful and 
found to his amazement that it was all pure gold. 

The following morning he was taken before the 
King, who sat on a massive throne in the temple of the 
sun, attended by a hundred virgins. The stranger 
was treated very kindly and was adopted into the 
nation through a curious ceremony of immersion in 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 203 

a great basin of perfumed water, followed by sprink- 
ling with a dust of gold and then another immersion 
in the lake. Everybody then treated him as a brother 
and he soon recovered and grew strong. He re- 
mained seven months, and never in all that time saw 
an act of crime or a single case of distress that it was 
possible to relieve, for every one believed that the 
well-being of every other person was of equal impor- 
tance with his own, and friendship was the only law. 

However, there came a time when he began to 
long to see people of his own customs, habit, and 
religion. He asked consent to be allowed to go on 
to the rising sun where his people lived, and permis- 
sion was readily given. Half a dozen warriors were 
appointed to conduct him to the borders of the king- 
dom, and as he passed by the shores of the Mar Blanco 
he filled several small bags with the sands of gold and 
tied them about his waist. 

As he was about to part from his friends at the 
border they were suddenly set upon by a party of 
hunters and killed. Martinez succeeded in hiding 
himself in some driftwood, and so escaped, but the 
horrors of the forest became even greater than before, 
and he lost all memory of his experiences until he 
found himself being cared for at the island of Mar- 
garita off the mouth of the Orinoco. 

The good Dominican fathers of San Juan took 
down in detail the elaborate testimony of the dying 
man and sent the gold sand to the King of Spain. It 
was one of the sensations of Europe, rivaling in public 
interest the discoveries and conquests of Cortes, 
Pizarro, and Quesada. Geographers placed the city 



204 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

of Manoa and Mar BlancO' on their maps, and his- 
torians discussed very learnedly in their writings, the 
probable location of the city of gold and the lake of 
priceless sands. England, Portugal, and Holland 
vied with Spain in expeditions sent out by their 
respective governments in search for the wonderful 
home of El Dorado, but the city of the unfortunate 
Juan Martinez was never found. 

Among the extraordinary adventures occasioned by 
the search for El Dorado one of the strangest was 
that of two priests and six soldiers in 1640. A soldier 
came privately to the Governor at Moyobamba, claim- 
ing that he had seen the golden city. He was the 
only survivor of a score of men who had set out alone 
to find the home of the gilded chief from directions 
given by a friendly Indian. The others had all 
perished from the hardships of the journey. 

The Governor sent two hundred men, under his 
guidance, to verify his discoveries. After two weeks' 
travel nearly due eastward to one of the tributaries 
of the Maranon, the guide insisted that it was neces- 
sary for the gilded chieftain to be first approached by 
an embassy consisting of a dozen men and two priests. 
It would take them only four days to make this recon- 
noissance and return. Accordingly the two priests 
and twelve men set forth to open friendly negotiations 
with El Dorado. The army waited in vain for their 
return. Scouting parties were sent out, but neither 
Spaniards nor signs of inhabitants could be found, 
much less of the far-famed golden city. 

Late in the following year, the two priests and six 
of the soldiers arrived at Para on the mouth of the 



SEARCH OF EL DORADO 205 

Amazon, all of them maniacs, who never recovered 
their reason. They raved incessantly till their death 
about the golden sands of Lake Parima and the hor- 
rible tortures that had been inflicted upon them in 
the temple of the sun. Their story created great 
excitement in Brazil and led to many fruitless expedi- 
tions. 

Of all the marvelous adventures through the vast 
wildernesses of the Amazon, from the voyage of Orel- 
lana in 1540, none equaled in heroism the last that is 
worthy of special mention. This journey, in 1769, 
was not that of a lot of sinewy and hardened men, 
but by a delicate and refined woman, doubtless the 
greatest feat ever performed by a woman. Many his- 
torians concede to her the honor of being the greatest 
heroine known in the history of South America. 

Her story is told in full by her husband in a letter 
to the historian La Condamine, which was published 
in that writer's book of Journeys through South 
America. 

Her husband had been absent several years on a 
scientific expedition for the government, intended to 
clear up many myths, when she heard that he had 
arrived at a certain point on one of the tributaries of 
the Amazon and was preparing to send for her. Wish- 
ing in her fondness and joy to anticipate him, she set 
forth to meet him with her two brothers, two maids, 
and three male servants. With amazing persever- 
ance and resolution, she continued on and on until the 
point was reached where her husband was said to be, 
only to find that it was all false. He had never been 
near there. By this time their horses were dead, and 



2o6 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

to attempt to return by foot through the difficulties 
they had encountered was certain death. Near them 
was the Amazon, at whose mouth they knew there 
were Christian settlements. It was their only hope. 
They got a boat from some friendly Indians and set 
themselves adrift on the stream that was to carry them 
through the awful tunnel of forests to the distant sea. 
After a time their boat was destroyed in some rapids 
and they continued on foot through the noxious 
jungles. One by one the two maids and five men 
died, until she was alone, but undaunted she continued 
on. After seven months she reached the territory of 
some Indians who were friendly to the French settle- 
ments about ten days' journey away. There they car- 
ried her, where she was kindly cared for until her 
wasted and famine-stricken body was restored, but 
her snow-white hair remained as a witness to her 
unparalleled suffering and courage. 

Her husband supposed she had perished, but a few 
years later she was able to communicate to him her 
safety and there was a happy meeting in Venezuela 
after a separation of fourteen years. 



ADVENTURES OF THE MARANONES. 

It is remarkable that the first declaration of inde- 
pendence in America was issued by the craziest lot of 
brigands ever known. It was a formal document 
drawn up and signed by the Maranones on the Ama- 
zon and forwarded to King Philip of Spain in the year 
1561. Whether the leader was a maniac or a monster 
he may be safely granted the palm of being the most 
detestable character produced in the conquest of 
America, and of having conducted the wildest and 
most appalling expedition in the annals of history. 

In 1548, two hundred soldiers filed out of the public 
square of Potosi on their way to Tucuman. Although 
it was against the law, each soldier had an Indian slave 
to carry his baggage. The licentiate of the town, not 
having the means at hand to enforce the law against 
so many, and yet not wishing to see it utterly ignored, 
seized the last man passing the gate and ordered him 
to be given the full penalty of two hundred lashes. 
This soldier, known as Lope de Aguirre, implored the 
licentiate or alcalde to put him to death rather than to 
have him flogged, since he was a gentleman by birth 
and the brother of a man who was lord of vassals in 
Spain. 

But the alcalde decided that an example must be 
made and ordered the punishment to be given regard- 
less of petitions from both citizens and soldiers. 

207 



2o8 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Accordingly, the accused was stripped naked an&pnt 
astride backwards on a donkey. In this state, he 
was publicly whipped at the crossings of all the streets 
in the town. 

Aguirre refused to proceed on his way to Tecuman, 
but remained at Potosi. Esquivel, the licentiate 
alcalde, divining that revenge was meditated, sur- 
rounded himself v/ith a strong guard, and when his 
term of office expired, removed to Lima. Aguirre 
followed him, openly asserting that nothing but the 
death of the licentiate by assassination would avenge 
the insult of the punishment that had been given. 

Esquivel removed secretly to Quito, then to Cuzco, 
but Aguirre followed him with the persistence and 
menace of a bloodhound, going all the way from place 
to place on foot, without shoes or decent clothing, 
saying that a gentleman so disgraced as himself had 
no right to live among civilized people, or to avail 
himself of the conveniences of Christians until the 
shame had been blotted out in blood. 

Esquivel went heavily armed day and night, accom- 
panied by a servant likewise prepared. The judge at 
Cuzco ordered the officers of the peace to keep a strict 
watch for the arrival of Aguirre and to arrest him at 
the first suspicious act. 

For three years and four months the implacable 
Spaniard pursued the purpose of revenge without an 
opportunity for its execution. When Aguirre found 
that Esquivel was at Cuzco, he determined to wait no 
longer for opportunities. On a certain Monday at 
noon, the singular avenger reached Cuzco, inquired 
for the house of Esquivel, and having found it, boldly 



OF THE MARANONES 211 

entered. Stabbing the watchman or bodyguard be- 
fore an outcry could be raised, he searched through 
the rooms until he found the lawyer at work in his 
library. There he informed the surprised enemy in 
measured terms that one of them must die within the 
hour in honorable duel with swords. No alternative 
was at hand, and when some visitors came in later in 
the day they found the lawyer face downward upon 
the floor grasping a broken sword in his lifeless hand. 

Aguirre sought out a brother of one of his com- 
rades in the army who successfully concealed the mur- 
derer through nearly two months of vigilant search, 
when, disguised as a negro, he got safely out of the 
country. 

About this time, two hundred Indians arrived at 
La Fronteria in Peru with the remarkable story that 
they had started four thousand strong from the mouth 
of the Amazon river, led by two Portuguese, in search 
of El Dorado. All the rest had perished. The land 
of the Dorado had been found when they were too 
weak and disorganized to attempt any conquest. 
Their testimony corroborated the wildest fiction 
known of the inexhaustible treasures awaiting the 
spoilsmen in the golden city of the Omaguas. 

Anarchy had hertofore reigned in Peru, but at this 
time Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Caneta, was 
enforcing the law and bringing order out of chaos. 
In consequence there was an ungovernable rabble 
of ruffians who were anxious to leave the country and 
whom the viceroy was as anxious to see depart. 

The story of the Brazilian Indians afforded the de- 
sired opportunity to the Governor. He organized an 



212 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

expedition to overrun the territory of the Omaguas 
and to capture their golden city and gilded chieftain. 
As was expected, all the outlaws and malefactors of the 
country flocked to the standard of the expedition. A 
strong man was needed to lead such an army, and the 
viceroy selected Pedro de Ursua, a knight who was 
related to the overseer of Ximines de Quesada, con- 
queror of Cundinamarca. 

The army of about a thousand men, and as many 
slaves, was accompanied by a large number of colon- 
ists with their household goods, who were to form the 
proposed settlements in the land of the Dorado. In 
this way there v/ere included about a hundred v/omen. 
Ursua, the leader, was devoted to Inez de Atienza of 
Pinira, the 3^oung and beautiful widow of Pedro de 
Arcos. Castellanos, who received his information 
from survivors of the marvelous expedition, bears 
testimony to her beauty, accomplishments, and 
spirited youth. He believed her to have been an 
honorable and virtuous woman. Vasquez, who was 
with the expedition, and Ortiguera, who had access 
to reliable information, both assert that she was the 
mistress of Ursua., and Vasquez lays to her charge the 
murder of that unfortunate captain, but the writings 
of those men convict them of the inclination to 
blacken a woman's character rather than to defend it. 
Simion and Piedrahita, two friars who regarded 
' women as the special instruments of Satan, and who 
got their facts sixty -two years later, spare no tenns in 
heaping abuse upon her. Others, however, regard 
her as one of the greatest heroines of Spanish Amer- 
ica, as well as one having the most pitiful career. This 



OF THE MARANONES u^ 

much seems true that when Pedro de Ursua, the 
chivahous knight of Navarre, aheady famous in Peru 
for his subjugation of the savages about Quito, met 
the beautiful and accompHshed Dofia Inez, they fell 
deeply in love with each, other. Then he was sent on 
a long and dangerous mission across the Cordilleras 
from which it was likely that he would never return. 
The gently nurtured woman abandoned the luxuries 
and comforts of an elegant home, against the remon- 
strances of her friends, to brave the unknown dangers 
of a search for El Dorado in an expedition with her 
lover. Simon pauses in the midst of his vituperation 
of her character to admit that before the departure 
of the expedition, Ursua took the Lady Inez with him 
to Moyombamba with the expressed intention of mar- 
rying her, and there is not a word of evidence from 
any source that this was not done. Simon asserts 
that after the death of Ursua she displayed the utmost 
vileness in becoming the mistress of his murderers, 
but it may be remembered in her favor that she was a 
helpless and broken-hearted woman in the power of 
the most abandoned ruffians known among the male- 
factors of Spanish America. 

In July, 1560, the army and colonists started across 
the Andes upon their mad and murderous cruise down 
the Amazon and through two thousand miles of 
almost uninhabitable forests. Such were their diffi- 
culties in travel that in a few weeks three hundred 
horses, six hundred cattle, and nearly all the house- 
hold goods were abandoned. At the end of six 
months, most of the colonists, being unused to such 



214 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

hardships, had died, and there was general discontent 
in the army. The occasion was ripe for a conspiracy 
and the conspirator was at hand. 

Ursua decided to stop at a point known as Machi- 
paro to rest and repair their boats. This was the 
opportunity desired by the arch malefactor. Lope de 
Aguirre. From the day when he had been publicly 
flogged through the streets of Potosi, he had day and 
night meditated revenge against the state whose laws 
were the cause of his disgrace. The long sought 
means seemed now at hand, and with consummate 
cunning and address he took advantage of the oppor- 
tunity. He gathered together the malcontents and 
proposed to remove Ursua and place their own men 
at the head. 

On New Year's night, while Juan Gomez was senti- 
nel before the captain's tent, a figure clothed as a 
ghost, passed by exclaiming, "Pedro de Ursua, knight 
of Navarre and Governor of Omagua and El Dorado, 
may God have mercy on thy soul." 

The captain called to the sentinel tO' know who had 
spoken and what had been said. The trembling senti- 
nel told him, but he made light of the warning and 
returned to sleep. The next evening, two hours after 
sunset, some of the conspirators came up to him 
where he lay in his hammock, and before he could 
defend himself, ran him through with their swords. 

Aguirre showed the mutineers that through this act 
they had become outlaws without hope of mercy from 
Spain. He urged them to return to Peru and effect 
the independence of that country, but the larger fac- 
tion, under Fernando de Guzman, decided to con- 



OF THE MARANONES 215 

tinue in pursuit of El Dorado. At the mouth of the 
Japura River, a three months' rest took place, during 
which Aguirre attained complete ascendancy in the 
councils of the army. Assassination was the order 
of both day and night, and a word uttered against the 
will of the leader meant death. His ambition broad- 
ened into a scheme of unparalleled audacity. Strong 
brigantines were built, in which they were to sail down 
the river to the sea, capture the island of Margarita, 
take by surprise Nombre de Dios and Panama, and 
from these vantage points effect the liberation of 
Spanish America. Accordingly a declaration of inde- 
pendence, the first issued in America, was drawn up, 
and signed by every member of the army excepting 
three, one of whom, Francisco Vasquez, succeeded in 
preserving his life, and afterward became the historian 
of the expedition. 

The declaration was a remarkable document 
addressed to "King Philip, native of Spain, son of 
Charles the Invincible," and ran as follows : 

*T, Lope de Aguirre, thy vassal, a Christian of poor, 
but noble parents, and native of the town of Onate in 
Biscay, went over-young to Peru tO' labor, lance in 
hand. I fought for thy glory; but I recommend to 
thee to be more just to the good vassals whom thou 
hast in this country. I and mine, weary of the cruel- 
ties and injustice which thy viceroy, thy governors, 
and thy judges exercise in thy name, have resolved to 
obey thee no more. 

"We regard ourselves no longer as Spaniards. We 
make relentless war on thee because we will no longer 
endure the oppression of thy ministers. We care no 



2i6 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

more for thy pardon or thy wrath than for the books 
of Martin Luther. 

"The conquest of this country has been without 
danger or cost to thee, and thou hast no more right 
than I to draw revenues from these provinces, or to 
oppress the people for being Hstless to thy will." 

After reaching Venezuela, Aguirre liberated a cap- 
tive monk on his oath that he would carry this delect 
able document to the King. 

So indistinct was the geography of that time that 
no one knows whether they sailed on down the Ama- 
zon or went through one of the numerous connect- 
ing bayous into the Orinoco. In either case it was at 
this point in the amazing expedition where the brutal 
mastery of Aguirre became unassailable. His tyr- 
anny was so terrible that those who hated him most 
were his most servile tools. To gain his favor they 
committed crimes so sickening and revolting as to 
present a unique phenomenon in human nature. 

There was one exception. In that awful time Doiia 
Inez became the sole counsellor and guardian of the 
score or more of women yet living. To save them 
alive until civilization could be reached was her appal- 
ling task. If it is true that virtue was traded for life, 
it only accentuates the execration due to the monsters 
in power, and in no way excuses the historians who 
delight to blacken the character of Doiia Inez. That 
Aguirre hated and feared her is testimony enough to 
her heroism, however questionable may have been her 
judgment of the means necessary to avert death to^ 
her and the defenseless women who looked to her for 
help in those days of paralyzing terror. 




Pi 

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OF THE MARANONES 219 

At last every known enemy of Aguirre had fallen 
and he dared to order her assassination. Llamaso 
and Carrion, two candidates for the favor of the leader, 
entered her tent, and in the midst of the screams of 
her companions, killed her in the most revolting man- 
ner. Of this foul deed, Castellanos poetically wrote : 
"The birds mourned on the trees, the wild beasts of 
the forests lamented, the waters in the rivulets ceased 
to sing on their way through the flowers, and the 
winds uttered their execrations over the horrid crime, 
as Llamaso and Carrion severed the veins of her white 
throat. Wretches ! Wert thou born of woman? No ! 
for even the beasts could not bring forth a man so 
vile. How didst thou survive the imagination of so 
enormous a wrong? Only that thy minds were dead 
and thy souls were fled from such foul clay." 

None dared to touch her body excepting her two 
devoted servants, who buried her at the foot of an 
evergreen tree and covered her grave with the wild 
flowers that grew around. On the bark of the tree 
they cut these words. "Here lies one whose faithful- 
ness and beauty were unequaled and whom cruel men 
slew without cause." 

After this the brutalities to the women were such 
that many of them committed suicide. Only two 
received protection. These were the young half- 
breed daughter of Aguirre and her companion, Dofia 
Torralva. 

The horrors of their deeds were fully matched by 
the fantastic follies committed. Fernando de Guz- 
man of Seville, with many ridiculous ceremonies, was 
made "Prince and King of Tierra Firma and of Peru." 



320 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

He insisted on the court etiquette due a King, and 
thus produced the dissatisfaction that gave an excuse 
to Aguirre for the puppet King's assassination. 

The next morning after Guzman's death, Aguirre 
surrounded himself with eighty of his special retainers 
and proclaimed himself "General of the Maranon." 
Henceforth his army was known as the Maranones. 
This name was in use at that time among some geog- 
raphers and historians for the river now known as 
the Amazon, but there is much reason to think that 
the Maranones were then on the Orinoco. 

About the middle of July, 1561, the brigantines 
carrying the Maranones, now reduced to less than two 
hundred men, reached the island of Margarita. Their 
arrival created great curiosity and general astonish- 
ment. The Governor, alcalde and their official 
companions decided to pay a visit of welcome to the 
strange wanderers. Aguirre waylaid his visitors and 
took them all prisoners. He then marched on to the 
town, took the fort by surprise and possessed himself 
of the island without opposition. All provisions, 
merchandise and money to be found were divided 
among his soldiers. The protesting citizens were 
imprisoned or slain, and the women were given up 
without mercy to the debauchery of the ruthless ruf- 
fians. No pirates or buccaneers at a later day ever 
more brutally ravaged a Spanish settlement than did 
these savage followers of Aguirre. 

He needed for further conquest a stronger vessel 
than his brigantines, and seeing such a ship anchored 
at Piritu, near the mainland opposite to Margarita, 
he sent some Maranones to seize it. They took the 



OF THE MARANONES 221 

opportunity to desert, and when the vessel approached 
Margarita it was flying the royal flag. In the mean- 
time, Aguirre was so sure of the vessel that he had 
sunk his brigantines. When he saw the ship nearing 
the harbor under the colors of Spain, he placed all the 
officers and the principal citizens in the fort and 
ordered them to be strangled at midnight. This was 
done with the usual promptitude. He then set the 
bodies upright in an orderly row and called all his 
soldiers together in a kind of "parade rest" and made 
them a speech. 

"Well do you see, O Maranones, in the bodies 
before your eyes that, independent of the crimes you 
committed in the River Maranon, you have divested 
yourselves of all rights in the Kingdom of Castile. You 
have foresworn allegiance to the King by swearing to 
make perpetual war upon him, and you have signed 
your names to the act. After adding yet many 
crimes, you executed your sworn prince and lord, 
many captains and soldiers, a priest and a noble lady. 
Having arrived at this island you have forcibly taken 
possession of it, divided the property found in it 
among yourselves., and co'mmitted sundry and divers 
wickedness. Now you have killed another Governor, 
an alcalde, a regidor, an alguazil mayor, and certain 
other citizens whose bodies are now witnesses before 
you. 

"Be not deceived by any vain confidence; for, hav- 
ing committed so> many and such abominable and 
atrocious crimes, be ye sure that ye are not safe in 
any part of the world, excepting with me. Suppose 
that by some chance you should achieve the King's 



223 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

pardon, know this, that the friends and kindred of the 
dead would follow you until vengeance was done. 

"Thus are you gravely warned to be united with 
me, for therein lies the question of life and death." 

The following day the vessel bearing the deserters 
sailed away to warn the coast and to provide means 
for the capture of the traitor. Aguirre was furious 
and he began to suspect even his most servile com- 
panions. Martin Perez had long been a faithful ofiEi- 
cer as master of the camp, but some one anxious to 
appear zealous in devotion to Aguirre told him that 
Perez seemed to be acting suspiciously. The assas- 
sination of the master of the camp was ordered, but 
the sickening butchery was done in such a bungling 
manner that he lay still alive on the floor, brained and 
mutilated beyong recognition when Aguirre came in. 
While he was looking at the writhing body, Anton 
Llamoso, who among other crimes had done the hein- 
our murder of Doiia Inez, chanced to walk in. Some 
one whispered to Aguirre, "There is a friend of 
Perez." 

"They tell me that you are a friend to this traitor," 
he said, turning to the astonished Llamoso. "How is 
this? Do you call that friendship to me? And do 
you hold thus lightly the love I feel for you?" 

As a study in the debasement of men, the scene that 
followed is given in the language of Fray Pedro 
Simon, from his "Sixth Historical Notice of the Con- 
quest of Tierra Firma." 

"Those who had slain Martin Perez, and who were 
then dripping with his blood, being desirous to do 
more murder, had scarcely heard Aguirre's words to 



OF THE MARANONES 223 

Llamoso, when they gathered close around eager for 
the signal to slay him. 

"The great fear that at once fell upon the wretch, 
made him haste with violent protestations, backing 
them up by many horrible oaths, mixed with vehe- 
ment blasphemies against those who' accused him, 
saying that such treason to his lord had never entered 
his thoughts, and that Aguirre ought to believe him 
for the faithfulness and affection which he had always 
been happy to show. 

"Aguirre did not speak at once and it seemed to 
Llamoso that the brutal master was not satisfied with 
the servile words, so he rushed upon the body of 
Martin Perez, almost cut to pieces, yet moving with 
departing life, and threw himself with madness upon 
it, shouting with desperate frenzy, 'Cursed be this 
abominable traitor who meditated so foul a crime 
against my beloved lord. I will drink his blood and 
eat his brain.' 

"So saying, the abandoned wretch in frantic terror 
put his mouth to the crushed head, with more than 
demoniac rage, and applied himself with the appalling 
acts of a famished beast. Rising he stood trembling 
before Aguirre with the bloody visage of a demon, 
awaiting the returning confidence of his master. 

" *It is well,' said that monster. 'He is faithful.' 

"In a transport of joy Llamoso embraced him and 
they went out arm in arm>. And thus it at last came 
about that he was indeed faithful, for there was no one 
who sustained Aguirre until his last hour like unto 
this same Llamoso." 

The startling news given by the deserters spread 



224 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

over the coast and the alarmed governments of Santo 
Domingo, Santa Martha, Merida, and Cartagena 
made hasty preparations to defend themselves and to 
capture the monster whose hideousness grew with 
every account. 

Three small fishing smacks opportunely arrived at 
this time in the bay of Margarita and were seized by 
Aguirre. On the last Sunday in August, 1561, hav- 
ing destroyed nearly all the property and people of the 
island, during the forty days' sojourn, Aguirre and his 
men left for the mainland. A storm drove them to 
Burburata. The Governor of Venezuela immediately 
called out all his available forces to capture the re- 
markable band of unparalleled fiends. 

The Maranones arrived in the harbor about night- 
fall. To guard themselves from a night attack, they 
run ashore their own vessels and those in the harbor 
and set them on fire. In the circle of bright light 
they slept unmolested on the beech. In the morning 
they went into the town, but found it deserted. Then, 
in a style that would have been the admiration and 
envy of the buccaneers and pirates who ravaged the 
same coast in after years, they ranged over the sur- 
rounding country and terrorized the inhabitants. 

When Pedro Nunez, the principal merchant of 
Venezuela, was captured and brought to Aguirre, the 
chief asked him why the people had fled. 

"Most certainly because ol fear," was the reply. 

"But what do you yourself think of me and my 
men?" persisted Aguirre. 

Believing a pretext was sought for killing him, the 
tradesman did not answer. 




Oj 



h 
w 

w 

K 
H 

O 
O 



OF THE MARANONES 227 

"Give your opinion freely, and fear not for your- 
self," insisted Aguirre with a great show of candor, 
"we are your friends." 

Being thus pressed for an answer, the unfortunate 
tradesman ventured to say that he greatly feared that 
they were Lutherans. 

"Stupid barbarian !" cried the chief, horror-stricken 
and enraged at the charge. "Is it possible that thou 
art such an ignorant savage as to conceive such a 
horrid calumny? I do not now dash thee to earth 
with my helmet, only that at a more fitting season I 
may chastise thee with a death becoming to thy 
impious traducement." 

On the next day the army was drawn up to see 
strangled the wretched man who had so foully slan- 
dered them. 

It was at this place where Aguirre permitted Father 
Pedro Contreras to return to his charge at the deso- 
late island of Margarita, on the priest's oath that he 
would carry to the King of Spain the declaration of 
independence drawn up by the Maranones in the wil- 
derness of the Amazon. 

Advancing on through Valencia, he laid waste the 
country and continued to commit the most unspeak- 
able atrocities on to Barquicimeto, where the King's 
forces were collecting. In the march through the 
wilderness, many found opportunities to desert, and a 
proclamation of pardon to deserters caused the army 
of the Maranones to diminish rapidly. 

Garcia de Paredes, having charge of the royal 
force, marched rapidly to the point where Aguirre 
had intrenched himself. As the King's troops 



228 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

appeared, the Maranones threw down their arms and 
ran to them crying, "Long Hve the King." 

Only one man remained in the trenches with 
Aguirre. It was the pitiable wretch Anton Llamoso, 
who had killed Dona Inez, now exhibiting a less 
abhorrent evidence of fidelity. 

Seeing the hopeless situation, Aguirre went to the 
tent of his daughter and her companion, Dofia Tor- 
ralva, all that remained alive of the hundred or more 
women who started with the expedition of conquerors 
and colonists. "My daughter, commend thyself to 
thy God," he said, "for I have come to kill thee, that 
thou mayst not be pointed at with scorn, nor be in 
the power of those who may call thee the daughter of 
a traitor." 

Doiia Torralva, not yet sixteen years of age, caught 
the arquebuse from his hands, but he thrust her aside 
and killed his daughter with his sword. 

Just as he finished this dreadful work, the troops 
came up. The captain wanted to spare him for trial 
and public execution, but the Maranones demanded 
that he be killed at once. The captain consented and 
two Maranones fired their arquebuses at him, but not 
bringing him to the ground. 

"Maranones!" he exclaimed, steadying himself 
against the pole of the tent, "you have aimed better 
before this. Try again." 

They fired again. 

"That is better," he managed to say, and fell dead. 

The chief officer now coming up, ordered the mur- 
dered daughter to be buried in the churchyard of 
Barquicimeto, but the body of the infarnpus man was 



OF THE MARANONES 229 

divided and distributed among the towns as a warn- 
ing of the fate of traitors to the King. His head was 
placed in an iron cage and fastened over the door of 
the house of justice in Tocuyo. 

Llamoso w^as taken to Pampluna, the town founded 
by Pedro de Ursua, the murdered commander of the 
expedition, and was there, as if in poetic justice, put 
to the garrotte and his body pubHcly burned. 

It is said that the bloody prophesy of Aguirre came 
true. The Maranones carried the mark of Cain. All 
died the violent death of rabid malefactors. There 
was no place where they could hide from the ven- 
geance of man and the law. 

The natives of Venezuela believe that Aguirre still 
appears now and then among them as their evil spirit. 
Those who are benighted on the marshy plains trem- 
ble at unknown sounds, and, pointing to the strange 
swamp lights, cross themselves as they say, 'Tt is the 
soul of Aguirre the traitor." 



THE LIBERATORS 

The problem that the United States has found in 
the government of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philip- 
pines, presents numerous curious phases of popular 
interest. The contrasts between the heroism, of the 
liberators and the bloody anarchy that invariably fol- 
lowed freedom in every Spanish-American republic, 
furnish a subject for thoughtful speculation. Self- 
government, as understood by Abraham Lincoln, has 
not been even approximately approached by them 
through four generations. All their advancement 
has been made under the martial hand of wise dic- 
tators. 

One of the dictator presidents of Venezuela, in a 
message to his congress, congratulated the country 
on the fact that there had been only seventeen revo- 
lutions during the past two^ years. Notwithstanding 
such a spectacle of hate, distrust, espionage, intrigue, 
immorality, assassination and anarchy, as everywhere 
prevailed, Spanish-America has produced many of 
the bravest and noblest men, and in its progress puts 
to shame the mother country, with all her advantages 
of European civilization. 

The victory of Nelson, in Trafalgar Bay, early in 
1805, provided a favorable opportunity for the Span- 
ish colonies to free themselves, and the usurpation of 
the throne of Spain by Joseph Bonaparte gave a politi- 

230 



THE LIBERATORS 231 

cal and religious excuse that appealed strongly to the 
popular mind. 

A most exciting and adventurous period followed. 
The land of romance was again in a ferment. Once 
more there were men in the saddle anxious to rival 
the deeds of their steel-cased ancestors who followed 
the fortunes of the first conquerors. 

Continuously from the time of the independence of 
the United States from England to the acknowledged 
independence of the Spanish colonies from Spain, the 
United States had ample reason for interference and 
equal opportunity to add Spanish territory. A study 
of comparative history shows that the United States 
has from first to last profited with extraordinary re- 
luctance by the incompetency and cruelty of Spain. 
The beginning affords a peculiar example and an 
interesting parallel. 

In 1805, a well-dressed and distinguished-looking 
foreigner came to New York from England and 
lodged at Mrs. Avery's boarding house in State street. 
To his fellow boarders he became known as George 
Martin. In a few days he received a letter from 
Washington City which caused him to take a hasty 
departure. As soon as the primitive methods of 
travel permitted, he reached the National capitol and 
was admitted to a private interview with President 
Jefferson and his Secretary of State, James Madison. 
At the hotel in Washington he was registered as 
Sefior Molini. February 2d, he returned to New 
York and at once went aboard the Leander, a mer- 
chant ship belonging to Samuel G. Ogden. The 
Lefind^r came tp anchor between Staten Igland and 



232 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

the Jersey shore. Two or three days later a Spanish 
gentleman suddenly appeared before the naval officer 
of the port with the charge that large quantities of 
arms and ammunition were being taken secretly on 
board that vessel at night. The officer turned to 
his books and found that the Leander was cleared for 
Jacquemel. Therefore there appeared to be no legal 
reason for interfering. But exciting rumors were at 
once set afloat as to the destination and object of the 
Leander. 

Marquis Yrujo, of Spain, assisted by the French 
Ambassador, lodged formal complaint with the Gov- 
ernment and through the "Philadelphia Gazette" 
accused Jefferson and Madison of criminal connivance 
with the enemies of Spain for the overthrow of Span- 
ish power in America. 

The Federal authorities arrested Mr. Ogden, owner 
of the Leander, and Colonel William Smith, son-in- 
law of John Adams, and the collector of the port of 
New York, each of whom were put under $20,000 
bonds. 

Political and personal accusations and recrimina- 
tions waxed hot and burning epithets were hurled 
back and forth like fiery hand-grenades in a fight with 
pirates. Strange to say the dispute raged chiefly 
around the question as to whether the Federalists or 
the Democrats had the honor of being the best friends 
of the Spaniards. It was necessary to love the Span- 
iard in order to satisfy the popular hate for England. 
Meantime the Leander sailed away on its mission of 
liberation, the beginning that was to find an end 
ninety-three years later. But the opportune time was 



THE LIBERATORS 233 

not yet at hand. The expedition was unsuccessful 
and the organizer with difficulty succeeded in escap- 
ing to England from Trinidad. This adventurer had 
passed through a campaign with Washington nearly 
twenty years before, greatly honored as Don Fran- 
cisco de Miranda of Caracas. He fought with great 
credit through the Belgian campaign of 1793 with 
Dumouriez, and later became a favorite at the courts 
of both England and Russia. He did not cease his 
efforts with the failure of the Leander expedition, 
but devoted himself assiduously to the object of Span- 
ish-American liberty. July 30, 1812, after another 
unsuccessful attempt at revolution, he was arrested at 
Laguira and delivered to the Spaniards, by Simon 
Bolivar, his subordinate companion in arms, who had 
signed the treaty of Victoria, five days before, restor- 
ing Venezuela to Spain. Miranda was imprisoned at 
San Carlos. After several months, he was sent to 
Porto Rico and then to Cadiz in Spain, where he per- 
ished some years later a prisoner in the dungeons of 
Fort La Caraca. It is recorded that when Bolivar, 
who is known as the Washington of South America, 
delivered his elder companion in arms to the Spanish 
authorities, he said, 'T surrender Miranda in order to 
punish a traitor to my country, and not to do a service 
to the King." 

It is true that the liberation of the greater part of 
South America was afterward effected under the lead- 
ership of Bolivar, and yet one of his lieutenants wrote 
a book to prove him a monster of tyranny, while there 
was constant rebellion against his authority and un- 
ceasing revolution under his government. 



234 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

The deeds and achievements of the patriotic troops 
under Bolivar and his Heutenants equaled many of 
the heroic acts of the conquerors and rivaled the most 
thrilling records of patriotism in any country, but the 
moment the hand of the dictator was off of them there 
was immediate anarchy. 

When the patriot army crossed the Andes to San- 
tander, it had equaled the feat of Hannibal crossing 
the Alps. The bands that waded the perpetual 
swamps through the terrors of the tropical forests, 
were as devoted and courageous as those of Marion, 
Sumpter, Pickens, and Lee. The scene of Bolivar's 
wild and haggard band driving before them with 
unsparing slaughter the atrocious Barriera is more 
inspiring than that of Washington inactive at Valley 
Forge. 

The Spanish foe was immeasurably more savage 
than Tyron or Arnold in New England. Ferdinand 
VII of Spain ordered a war of extermination, and 
General Boves sacked the towns in his course of sub- 
jugation through Venezuela, not allowing the dead to 
be buried, but commanding that the bodies of men, 
women, and children be left rotting where they fell. 

When Aragua was entered by Suasola, with about 
five hundred troops from the army of Monteverde, 
the inhabitants, numbering fifteen hundred, made a 
great public feast for them. After a merry hour, the 
soldiers, under secret orders, turned upon their enter- 
tainers and cut off the ears of every person in the 
town. A trunk full of these gruesome relics was sent 
to Monteverde as a proof of hi§ lieutenant's fidelity 




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Ph 

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O 

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Pi 

Ph 
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THE LIBERATORS 237 

and they were worn as souvenirs in the hatbands of 
the soldiers. 

While Simon Bolivar was expelling Spain from the 
Northern part of South America, Jose de San Martin 
was drilling his army of the Andes at Mendoza in 
Argentina, just across the mountains from Santiago. 
January 17, 18 17, the army, led by San Martin and 
O'Higgins, started across the Andes tO' drive the 
Spaniards out of Chili. Nearly four thousand men, 
and eleven thousand horses crossed over the summit 
of the Uspallata pass, 12,500 feet above the sea, 4,000 
feet higher than the Great St. Bernard. The conduct 
of this expedition required more executive ability and 
foresight than that of Napoleon crossing the Alps. 

The two victorious armies neared each other in 
Peru early in 1822. On July 26, the two great liber- 
ators met at the port oi Guayaquil and at this con- 
ference San Martin agreed to leave the country and 
give Bolivar free sway. 

But of all the liberators of Spanish America, the 
one who most nearly fills the role of ideal hero is 
Miguel Hidalgo of Mexico. If he failed anywhere 
it was in having the executive daring of a great sol- 
dier. 

In 1752, Don Cristobal Hidalgo y Costilla visited 
the southern part of the hacienda, of which he was 
Governor. One day he stopped for dinner at the 
farmhouse of Antonio Gallaja, who was one of his 
tenants. The daughters of Gallaja were famed for 
their beauty and wit. They did their utmost to gain 
the admiration of the rich and powerful Hidalgo, but 
a girl who stood behind their chairs and waited on 



238 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

them attracted his attention most. He found that 
the httle beauty, so coarsely dressed and who was 
treated by them Hke a slave, was an orphaned cousin, 
named Anna Maria. 

The following day Don Cristobal returned and 
asked Anna Maria to take a walk with him. At part- 
ing he placed a ring on her finger in token that "My 
true love hath my heart and I have his." 

She was soon Don Cristobal's wife, and, when her 
second son was born, she little dreamed that he was 
to be the hero of Mexico and the noblest liberator of 
all Spanish-America. There was no' opening for such 
aspirations and genius as his but through the Church. 
His rise was rapid and he might have worn the car- 
dinal's hat if he had been willing to play at politics. 
But he was a true father of the people. In his resist- 
ance to the oppression of the poor, he made bitter 
enemies and a trial for heresy was instituted against 
him, but his character was so unassailable and his 
talents so conspicuous that even in those corrupt 
ecclesiastical courts only a mild discipline could be 
secured against him. In time he became cura of 
Dolores with the wider opportunity to ameliorate the 
conditions and miseries of ignorance and poverty. 
He revolutionized the district. The house of almost 
every family of learning became a free school for the 
poor. He planted vineyards, introduced silkworms, 
and established potteries, brick kilns, tanneries, and 
rope factories. He lived with the poor, wore coarse 
serge cassock, and there was nothing but his scholarly 
and benevolent countenance to distinguish him from 
the commonest laborers. 



THE LIBERATORS 239 

He made extended investigations into literature, 
philosophy, theology, and jurisprudence, reaching 
into the mighty domain of liberty of conscience, free- 
dom of thought and hatred of tyranny. Although 
surrounded by the most ignorant and superstitious 
people, he formed benevolent and social societies, 
clubs, guilds, and educational associations. Foreign 
visitors and the most distinguished men in Mexico 
began to make Dolores their Mecca. Gradually his 
influence and eloquence began to turn toward the 
regeneration of society and the reformation of gov- 
ernment. He knew more law than the legal advisers 
of the King, more theology than the archbishop of 
the Church, and he could govern better than any 
appointee that had ever been sent over the ocean from 
Spain, 

Being neither a hypocrite nor a coward, his influ- 
ence became very offensive to the corrupt minions of 
church and state. Charges of heresy and sedition 
were preferred before the Inquisition against the pro- 
gressive priest of Dolores. He was denounced by 
those in power as the servant of Satan. He was 
branded with the awful sacrilege of being a priest 
who was not an ascetic and who did not believe in 
flagellation. It was charged that he claimed not to 
be afraid of the inferno and that he reserved the right 
of private judgment in the interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures. But his life was stainless, and all knew it. He 
had committed no crime against the law and those 
who loved him were too numerous to be defied. 

In the dilemma some one discovered that he had 
no right to plant vineyards and mulberry groves, nor 



240 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

to establish the numerous manufactories through 
which the community was flourishing. Accordingly 
he was compelled to stand by with his people and see 
the best work of years overthrown and his prosperous 
industries ruined. The vines, trees, and shops were 
destroyed in one day by the Spanish soldiers, and 
strict orders were given that they should not be repro- 
duced. 

The ofificials guilty of this deed began to notice with 
alarm that the Cura of Dolores, though now fifty- 
eight years of age, was absent a great deal from his 
parish and province. The humble Creole curas of a 
score of cantons were constantly visiting the little 
house where Miguel Hidalgo lived. Everybody 
seemed to know that great secrets were being guarded 
and there was a hush over affairs that betokened a 
coming storm. 

Unfortunately at this time the Canoness Ittariga fell 
ill and believed herself about to die. She confided 
to her confessor, the Cura of Queretaro, that Hidalgo 
was to head a revolt against the authority of Spain on 
the first day of November, 1810, and that the Gon- 
zales brothers were acquainted with all the details 
which were unknown to her. In an hour the Gon- 
zales brothers were called to the Governor's house on 
some alleged business and were secretly arrested and 
thrown into the dungeon, where there were all of the 
appliances of the inquisition, to await the speedy 
arrival of the inquisitor. 

The doom of the conspirators for liberty seemed at 
hand when Dofia Josefa Ortiz, the heroic wife of 
Dominquez, Corregidor of Queretaro, whose house 



THE LIBERATORS 241 

was built against the wall of the prison, heard, while 
passing to and fro at her work, a series of three sharp 
taps on the wall from within the prison. Her heart 
stood still. She understood at once. It was the 
signal agreed upon with Perez, the jailer. Someone 
was being held in the inquisitorial dungeon to have 
the secrets of the conspiracy tortured out of him. In 
a few minutes trusty messengers were hurried away, 
one to General Allende at San Miguel, and another to 
Hidalgo at Dolores, warning them that the plot for 
hberty was discovered. 

The cura was in his study, and sitting close around 
him were a dozen dark-visaged men eagerly listening 
to his low-spoken words, when a series of raps, betok- 
ening a hurried messenger, startled them from their 
chairs. Hidalgo arose and cautiously asked who was 
there. It was past midnight and the visitor was 
clearly one of importance. 

"My message is only for the ears of Hidalgo," was 
the reply. 

Hidalgo opened the door. "Speak out, friend," the 
cura said, as the man entered, "I am. Hidalgo and 
these are as one with him." 

The messenger told hurriedly what had occurred 
and the men turned with blanched faces to the cura. 

Hidalgo's face lighted up with the animation of one 
who sees that the supreme hour has come for a great 
movement. 

"Action at once," he exclaimed. "There is no time 
to be lost. The yoke of our Spanish oppressors shall 
be broken at once and the fragments scattered over 
Mexico." 



242 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

A conference ensued, lasting until daylight, when 
the street watchman was called in and told to arouse 
the fifteen workmen employed in the cura's pottery, 
which had been saved from the wreck of industries. 

When the astonished men appeared the cura told 
them that the era of liberty had begun and asked them 
if they were ready to bear arms and devote their lives 
to its cause. 

Weeping with joy they embraced him and the 
delighted cura cried, "Long live our Lady of Guad- 
alupe, and long live our new-born liberty." 

It was Sunday morning and the church bell was 
rung an hour earlier than had ever been done before 
for mass. The Creoles and Indians flocked from the 
surrounding country, for it was felt everywhere that 
something unusual was about to take place. When 
the people were called together they heard a remark- 
able discourse. The priest told them that they would 
not have mass that day, as there was greater need at 
that time to be delivered from the Spaniard than from 
the devil. 

"My children," he exclaimed, "a new dispensation 
has come to us this day. Are you ready to receive 
it? Will you be free? Will you strive to recover 
from the hated Spaniard the liberty of which you have 
been robbed for three centuries?" 

Great and eager cries arose on all sides and the 
people pressed around him. 

"To-day is the day of our salvation," he continued. 
"We will go to San Miguel for arms. Let all follow 
me who believe in liberty for themselves and their 
children." 



THE LIBERATORS 243 

When General Allende received his message, he 
hastened to Dolores and soon there was a rabble of 
four thousand natives, armed with lances, clubs, 
machettes, slings, and bows. San Miguel was taken 
and the wild passions of the oppressed people broke 
forth in such a storm that no man could govern it. 
The Spaniard had robbed, insulted, and killed for 
three hundred years without retaliation or punish- 
ment, and nothing but brutal destruction could now 
be expected. 

The archbishop excommunicated the priest and all 
his followers. Every pulpit denounced him as a 
Lutheran devil. Hidalgo was summoned to appear 
before the inquisition, and he replied, "I owe nothing 
to a Spanish inquisition. It is not necessary to be a 
slave in order to be a true Catholic. I am loyal to 
.my rehgion, you to your politics." 

The religious terrors and the torture of the inquisi- 
tion were mingled with the dreadful excesses of civil 
war. The Spaniards fled to the largest cities, women 
and children were sent to the convents, and all treas- 
ures were shipped to foreign countries. 

The revolutionists swept everything before them 
and defeated the army sent out to prevent them enter- 
ing the City of Mexico. But Hidalgo did not believe 
his poorly equipped army could take the city. He 
ordered a retreat to await a more favorable condition. 
This was a fatal reversal of the victorious advance. It 
was demoralizing to the natives and encouraging to 
the Spaniards. In a short time the Benedict Arnold 
of Mexican liberty appeared. Ignacio EHzondo suc- 
ceeded in leading Hidalgo into a Spanish ambush at 



244 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

Acatila de Bajen, March 21, 181 1, where he was cap- 
tured. Fearful revenge was taken. The dispirited 
army was scattered before the invigorated onslaughts 
of the Spaniards. All the leaders were captured and 
shot. Hidalgo was reserved for special ecclesiastical 
degradations. Doria Josefa, the heroine of the revo- 
lution, was closely imprisoned for several years, her 
property confiscated and her children turned out to 
beggary. 

The last words of Hidalgo were, "The knell of 
Spanish rule in America has been sounded. Liberty 
for all will come." 

He died with the distinction of having been form- 
ally sentenced to death by the Pope and the King of 
Spain. Until the independence of Mexico in 1824, 
under Iturbide, Hidalgo's head remained on public 
exhibition in an iron cage, with those of his two gen- 
erals, as a Spanish warning against all aspirations for 
liberty. On the cage was this inscription: "These 
heads of Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio AUende, and 
MarianO' Jimanez, insidious intriguers and leading 
chiefs of the revolution, who have seized the property 
of the Religion of God, and the Real Presence, and 
shed with the greatest atrocity the blood of faithful 
priests, and just magistrates; the cause of all the 
calamities, disgraces, and disasters, which all the 
inhabitants of this land, an integral part of Spain, suf- 
fer and deplore." 

Now these relics of patriotism lie in costly sepul- 
chres in the capital, revered by all, and the chief 
national holiday of MEXICO is sacred to the memory 
of Hidalgo. 



THE LIBERATORS 245 

Some remarkable characters were brought to the 
front as dictators in the whirlpool of insurrection and 
anarchy that followed Spanish-American indepen- 
dence. Rafael Carerra of Gautemala, was typical. 
He was a half-breed and his youth was spent as a pig 
driver. Then he became a loafer and gambler, cheat- 
ing the laborers out of their wages. The turning 
point in his career as maranero and montero was 
brought about by a Frenchman who owned a cochi- 
neal plantation. The fastidious gentleman found 
Carerra behind the wall of the courtyard cheating the 
gullible French servants out of their money, and so 
the gambler was promptly kicked off the estate. 

Such episodes in his business were not relished and 
he aspired to robberies on a more extended scale. In 
the mountains were many thousands of refuges from 
both justice and injustice. These were chiefly Indian 
slaves and half-breeds who levied tribute from unfor- 
tunate travelers from motives of plunder and revenge. 
Carerra cast his lot with those people and soon rose 
to great distinction and influence among them. 

Some time previous to this, Morazan had expelled 
the priests and ordered the destruction of the con- 
vents. The robber who had become so influential as 
to be able to organize the many bands under one head 
was encouraged to- become a revolutionist. Several 
frightful earthquakes occurred and the priests de^ 
Glared that those shocks were but the beginning evi- 
dence of God's displeasure for worse things to follow 
if the sacriligious tyrants and usurpers were not driven 
from Gautemala. A dreadful plague of cholera 
appeared opportunely and Carerra raised the standard 



246 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

of rebellion. The mountaineers flocked to him from 
every quarter. After numerous sanguinary engage- 
ments where quarter was neither given nor taken, 
Morazan was driven from the country. In 1843, he 
tried to raise a counter revolution in Costa Rica, but 
was captured and shot. Carerra was thus left master 
of the state with an unassailable support from the half- 
breeds and Indians. 

The Frenchman who had driven the petty gambler 
from his cochineal plantation, expecting tO' have his 
property confiscated by the dictator, and to lose his 
life for having so summarily treated the conqueror, 
fled from the country, but was captured by the emis- 
saries of Carerra and brought before the tyrant. 

The planter fell on his knees and begged that his 
family be spared. He expected the dictator to order 
immediate execution, but to his surprise, Carerra bade 
him arise, embraced him., and made him treasurer of 
the state. 

Carerra was known as "El Indio" or the Indian, and 
the aristocracy heartily despised him. At the first 
opportunity an extended conspiracy was formed 
against him, but it came to a singular conclusion. 

One of the chief officers in the army volunteered 
to kill him at the grand clerical festival about to take 
place. The assassin mingled with the throng and 
pressed nearer and nearer his victim, the conspirators 
meanwhile closing in around them. Three steps 
across an open space would bring him toi the side of 
the dictator. The assassin drew his dagger under his 
cloak, and as he did so the metal-tipped sheath became 
unloosened and fell to the stone floor with a clinking 



THE LIBERATORS 249 

sound of startling significance. Before he could 
cover the tell-tale mishap, the scabbard was seen by 
the President and his friends. The urbane head of 
the Republic picked the article up from the floor, and 
with a bow handed it to its owner, who as politely- 
acknowledged the courtesy. The festivities con- 
tinued as if nothing had occurred to mar the occasion, 
but an observer, understanding the situation, could 
have seen a dozen stalwart men of unmistakable 
Indian type slowly moving nearer the door with the 
unsuccessful assassin in their midst. Half an hour 
later he was in chains on the floor of the castle dun- 
geon. 

The investigation that followed showed that two 
brothers of the highest Catalonian family were at the 
head of the conspiracy. Every device of persuasion 
and torture was used to make them reveal their 
accomplices, but they were stoically silent. The ofifi- 
cer who had attempted the assassination was con- 
demned to be shot at ten o'clock in the morning, the 
two brothers to share this fate immediately after. 

Every resource of influence and wealth was brought 
to bear upon Carerra in favor of the two brothers, but 
in vain. At the fatal hour a volley of shots, heard 
inside the castle dungeon, signified plainly that the 
officer had met his punishment. Presently the guards 
came to the prison with a priest and the brothers were 
implored once more to reveal the names of their 
accomplices, but they heroically refused to speak. 
The elder brother was then led away. A volley of 
musketry followed and the guard returned with the 
priest to the younger brother. In vain he was advised 



250 THRILLING ADVENTURES 

to reveal the conspirators. He was then hurried 
away to a spot where there were two new-made graves 
and one not yet filled. 

"For the last time," said the executioner, "you are 
asked to reveal the truth." 

The boy's lips closed tighter and there was only 
silence. The firing orders were given, "one, two, 
three, — " At that instant Carerra sprang forward, 
snatched the cloak from the condemned man's head, 
unbound him, and after embracing him, said, "Go join 
your brother at your home. Gautemala cannot spare 
such brave sons." 

This was one of the singular tyrants that flourished 
on the soil of Spanish-America. Revolution at last 
drove him out of power, but he set a strange gauge 
for New World chivalry. 

One of the most romantic episodes told of his meth- 
ods of justice, occurred near the close of his career. 
Diego Cortace, a wealthy young Spaniard, holding a 
large estate in Gautemala, had been so diplomatic that 
through all the revolutions he had remained unmo- 
lested. 

In Cobra there was a creole girl who kept a small 
store of confections and fruit. She was wise as she 
was beautiful and none ol her numerous suitors knew 
whom she favored until her tireless efforts to obtain 
the release of a Spanish youth, who had been impris- 
oned for engaging in an insurrection against Carerra, 
revealed where her chief interest lay. Several visits 
had been made by her to the dictator in her lover's 
behalf, but the sentence of death was pronounced and 
the day of execution drew near, when M^ria suddenly 



THE LIBERATORS 251 

disappeared. An Indian from the farm of Cortace 
came to Carerra and told him that a young woman 
was being held unwillingly a prisoner on his master's 
farm. A score of cavalrymen were at once sent to 
bring the woman and man before the dictator. A 
few hours later they returned with the Spaniard and 
the girl, when she frankly told Carerra that she had 
gone with some men who came to her with the pro- 
posal to break into the castle dungeon and liberate her 
lover. Instead of going to the castle, the leader, who 
was Diego Cortace in disguise, seized her and carried 
her into the country to his house as a prisoner, where 
he was about to kill her or make her his slave when 
the rescue came. 

Carerra called in a priest. 

"The prisoner desires to marry this girl," said he, 
"and I have concluded that he shall do so." 

There could be no protestations against the well- 
known iron will of the dictator and the marriage was 
done. 

After congratulating the terrified bride, he ordered 
the prisoner to be taken away. Within half an hour a 
man returned and gave a signed document to the 
dictator. A few minutes later the priest came in with 
the prisoner of the castle dungeon. 

"Was this your lover before your late marriage?" 
asked Carerra of the girl. 

She could only bow her head. 

"Then let me congratulate you," continued the 
dictator. "Your husband is dead, you are invested 
with his estates, and it is my will that you marry your 
heart's choice, who is now a free man. Priest, per- 
form your duty." 



